Last Monday, officials of South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation (PIC), the government-owned fund manager, were in a celebratory mood in Johannesburg after their $270 million investment in CAMAC Energy Inc became profitable. The excitement followed CAMAC’s (an explorer with mostly Nigerian operations) debut of trading on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
“We are in the money already,” Dan Matjila, chief investment officer (CIO) for the PIC, which has $137 billion in assets under management, told reporters.
A lack of strategic thinking by Nigerian officials – from regulators to legislators to the finance ministry – has led to foreigners becoming the major beneficiaries of Nigeria’s wealth, as oil companies with major operations in the country mostly list their shares offshore, depriving Nigerians of the ability to participate in wealth creation through capital gains.
The PIC which invests on behalf of South African citizens bought a 30 percent stake in CAMAC, which issued 376.8 million shares to the PIC at R7.77 per share. The first trade in the stock was made at R10.95, equivalent to a 41 percent gain for shareholders.
BusinessDay’s analysis of available public data shows that 96 companies are currently active in Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas sector in the form of exploration and production. Twenty-three of them (24 percent) are listed on foreign stock exchanges. Oando plc, through its stake in Toronto-listed Oando Energy Resources (OER), is the only company trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), while the rest remain unlisted.
The 23 foreign-listed companies include London Stock Exchange (LSE)-listed Afren plc, Centrica, Eland Oil and Gas, Essar Energy, Heritage Oil, Lekoil and Royal Dutch Shell; JSE-listed CAMAC Energy and Sasol; and TSK-Toronto-listed Mart Resources Inc, Mira Resources and OER.
Others are New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)-listed Chevron and Exxon Mobil; Euronext-Paris-listed Maurel & Prom Nigeria and Total; Hong Kong (HKE)-listed CNOOC and Sinopec; NSE-India-listed Indian Oil and ONGC; Borsa Italiana-listed ENI-Saipem; Oslo-listed Statoil; and Bovespa Brazil-listed Petrobras.
The 23 companies collectively own Nigerian oil assets (OMLs) with average asset value of $89.4 billion, according to data compiled from a November 2013 report by investment and research firm CBO Capital Partners and Rystad Energy.
This compares with the NSE, whose total equity market capitalisation was equivalent to $77 billion last Friday.
As the indigenous and independent oil companies in Nigeria increasingly list on foreign bourses, analysts say companies are acting like mercenaries and getting away with anything in Nigeria, because none of the legislators or economic planners is fighting for or thinking about Nigeria’s economic interest.
“Contrasting Nigeria and South Africa (Transformation Agenda versus National Development Plan), it is obvious SA has a plan and a cluster of brains thinking of the country’s economic strategy,” said an economist who spoke with BusinessDay on condition of anonymity.
Africa accounted for 12 percent of dividend inflows into South Africa in 2012, up from 2 percent in 2002.
In his February 26, 2014 budget speech, South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said unlisted South African technology, media, telecommunications and other research and development companies would be allowed to list offshore, provided they remained incorporated, managed and controlled from South Africa. The companies would be required to have a secondary listing in South Africa within two years of listing offshore, Gordhan said.
“Getting oil independents and majors to list on the NSE will clearly help deepen and diversify the local market, avail local investors to gain exposure to the sector and help reduce the quantum of funds being repatriated outside of Nigeria, in form of dividends,” said Abiodun Keripe, head of research at Investment-One Financial Services Limited, with N8 billion in assets under management.
One way to get them listed may include the use of tax incentives, says Tairat Tijani, head of debt capital markets at FBN Capital.
Nigeria don't own anything even a single toilet will be foreign owned. If a Nigerian builds a company from scratch with Nigerian money and then the company later become very big he would quickly change the headquaters to the UK or any foreign country and list the company shares on another country's exchange i really don't know what is wrong with Nigerians most South african companies where started as far back as 1741 made their money in SA and up till now you won't see them change their headquaters or do shit, Everything in Nigeria is foreign owned from MTN to all oil companies (yes ALL), Naspers (owner of Dstv), Tiger brands, those companies didn't change their headquaters because the are now worth billions but if a Nigerian company just make little $1bn they change everything. MTN makes billions in Nigeria yet its not Nigerian owned.

The government may, however, be dropping the ball on using tax incentives to encourage listings. The shares of Heritage Oil plc, an independent oil and gas company with major Nigerian operations (OML 30) but listed in London, climbed 14 percent last week, after saying its Nigerian venture “successfully concluded” tax rebate negotiations with Nigerian tax authorities.
The announcement may reduce Heritage’s 2013 tax liability “that would have eroded year-end cash of about $190 million”, Al Stanton, an Edinburgh-based analyst at RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a note.
The authorities could have used the tax negotiations to get a commitment from Heritage to list in Nigeria, noted the economist, who spoke to BusinessDay.
Andrew Elueni, executive vice chairman, Quantum Securities Limited, says that for oil companies operating in Nigeria, legislation may be the only way to get them listed on the NSE.
“Imagine if 20 percent of the assets of the likes of Shell, Chevron are listed, the capitalisation of Nigeria’s capital market will shoot up. Legislation should be applied,”

Thats why i like Dangote he didn't say oh because my company dangote cement is now worth $25bn i will change the headquaters and list the shares somewhere else... South african stock exchange is worth $1tr, Nigerian stock exchange worth $80bn because Nigerians prefer listing their companies abroad

Ogun-idile dey follw dis mumu country