NSE Donates N100 Million to Support Efforts at Curbing COVID-19

• NSE Donates N100 Million to Support Efforts at Curbing COVID-19

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) announced a donation of N100 million to intensify the fight against the global pandemic, COVID-19, in Nigeria.

The bourse said N60 million of the total sum will go to the Capital Market Support Committee for Covid-19 (CMSCC), while the remaining N40million will be devoted to the “Masks For All Nigerians” campaign.

The CMSCC is a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) led committee, comprised of the capital market community and set up to galvanize the capital market ecosystem to play an active role in curbing the spread of Covid-19 in Nigeria.

The exchange explained that the “Masks For All Nigerians” campaign will see the NSE donate over 100,000 reusable face masks to states most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking on the donation, Oscar N. Onyema, the Chief Executive Officer, NSE, said, “At the Exchange, we recognize the health and economic impact of the Covi-19 pandemic on Nigerians and the need to adopt more proactive steps in stemming the tide. In line with our tradition of supporting the communities where we operate, we have launched the Masks For All Nigerians campaign to ensure that protective masks get into the hands of citizens in the more vulnerable places.”

“Through our media enlightenment engagement, we will raise awareness on the proper use of masks, continue to encourage adherence to the guidelines that have been provided by relevant agencies and emphasise that wearing of masks alone is not enough protective measure against Covid-19. We have also been deliberate with this intervention by patronising local manufacturers in our efforts to support indigenous businesses, who we have mandated to comply with the mask production specifications provided by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC),” Onyema further stated.

The President of the National Council, NSE, Abimbola Ogunbanjo added that “We are facing an unprecedented existential threat that requires us to adopt a more collaborative approach in fighting this pandemic especially where social interaction is inevitable. As we work to encourage the use of Personal Protective Equipment through adequate production and distribution of reusable face masks, we call on the capital market ecosystem to support this initiative by wearing a mask when in public settings and donating masks especially to those at the bottom of the pyramid so as to protect lives leading to the reactivation of our economy.”