The Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) has said that the priority of the commission is to refocus attention on how to galvanise capital market money in financing infrastructure.
“This country has what it takes to do this, this is the direction of the government and this is what SEC is doing to galvanise the market to help finance infrastructure,” Lamido Yuguda, the Director General of SEC, said.
The director general said this at a press briefing on the outcome of the third meeting of the Capital Market Committee (CMC) in 2023 in Lagos.
He added that the commission would support the Federal Government to unlock the full potential of the capital market in addressing infrastructure deficit. “One of the most glaring problems of the country is the sorry state of a lot of our infrastructure and the goal of the commission in 2024 is to refocus attention on how we can galvanise capital market money into financing infrastructure,” he said.
He said that in 2024, the SEC is dedicated to utilizing the capital market to tackle Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit. The commission recognizes the dire state of infrastructure in the country and aims to harness the potential of the capital market to address this critical need.
He expressed optimism about unlocking the full potential of the capital market in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Yuguda said that achieving a one-trillion-dollar economy by the end of 2026 was possible if the capital market could be properly harnessed.
He noted concerns around the recent reclassifications of Nigerian securities indices by FTSE-Russell and MSCI, attributing these to the present foreign exchange liquidity challenges, and its effects on investor confidence.
Yuguda said he observed that market participation had remained heavily skewed to domestic investors and its 36.6 7 percent performance of the NGX All-Share Index to attractive yields of some stocks, improved sentiments among domestic retail investors, and fiscal and monetary policy shifts.
He mentioned that the Nigeria index (All Share Index) reached an all-time high crossing the 70,000 benchmark despite a drop in foreign portfolio investment inflows. A 30 percent increase this year, he said.
The e-Dividend Mandate Technical Committee presented an update during the CMC on the collaboration with the Institute of Capital Market Registrars and NIBSS to enhance the e-dividend portal saying that the upgrade will be self serviced.
Yuguda said that the enhanced portal would be launched on or before Nov. 30, 2023, noting that 18 out of 19 registrars had submitted undated data on Un-Mandated Accounts for upload.
The commission gave updates on Commodities Trading Ecosystem,
Daisey Ekineh, Chairperson of the Technical Committee on the Commodities Trading Ecosystem, disclosed the ongoing engagement with the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) to secure approval of certain standards and the adoption of additional commodity standards sanctioned by the African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO).
She highlighted other initiatives by the Technical Committee, with a particular focus on introducing commodity derivatives.
Ekineh also noted the committee’s efforts to work with the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to further de-risk the ecosystem by introducing insurance products that suit the needs of the commodities producers and traders.
