THE Nigerian stock exchange has approved the sale of government shares in two major groups under the first stage of a privatisation programme, exchange officials said on Tuesday. The shares are in the West African Portland Cement Company (Wapco), the largest cement company in the country and the fourth largest group on the exchange, and in FSB International Bank, a major Nigerian banking group. The government owns 16,5% of shares in Wapco, in which the largest single shareholder is Britain’s Blue Circle group. Blue Circle is expected to be one of the bidders for the government shares in the group, exchange officials said.