The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) now Nigerian Exchange Group is a Nigerian stock exchange founded in 1961 in Lagos. As of November 2019, it has a total of 161 listed companies, with 8 domestic companies on the premium board, 144 companies on the mainboard, and 4 on the Alternative Securities Market (ASeM) board. In the Fixed Income market, the NSE has 84 FGN bonds, 21 state bonds, 27 corporate bonds, 1 supranational bond, and 53 memorandum listings. Mission The NSE mission is to enable businesses and investors to have reliable access to capital and provide secure saving systems and structure for effective and efficient business operations. History The Nigerian Stock Exchange was founded as the Lagos Stock Exchange, on September 15, 1960. The Lagos Stock Exchange is the oldest existing stock exchange in West Africa. There were seven subscribers to the Exchange’s Memorandum of Association: R.S.V. Scott, representing C.T. Bowring and Co. Nigeria Ltd.; Chief Theophilus Adebayo Doherty; John Holt Ltd; Investment Company of Nig. Ltd.(ICON); Sir. Odumegwu Ojukwu; Chief Akintola Williams; and Alhaji Shehu Bukar. Operations began officially on August 25, 1961, with 19 securities listed for trading. However, informal operations had commenced earlier in June 1961. Operations were initially conducted inside the Central Bank building with four firms as market dealers: Inlaks, John Holt, C.T. Bowring, and ICON (Investment Company of Nigeria). The volume for August 1961, was about 80,500 pounds and it rose to about 250,000 pounds in September of the same year with the bulk of the investments in government securities. In December 1977 it became known as The Nigerian Stock Exchange, with branches established in some of the major commercial cities of the country. In 2021, the NSE launched a new brand identity into what is today known as the Nigerian Exchange Group, following its demutualisation and the resulting creation of the non-operating holding company NGX Group Plc. Operations The Nigerian Stock Exchange has been operating an Automated Trading System (ATS) since April 27, 1999, with dealers trading through a computer network. In 2013, the NSE launched its next-generation trading platform, X-Gen, intended to enable electronic trading for the retail and institutional segments. Trading on The Exchange starts at 9.30 a.m. and closes at 2.30 p.m. every Monday - Friday. Market prices, along with an All-Share Index, NSE 30, and Sector Indices, are published daily in The Stock Exchange Daily Official List, The Nigerian Stock