The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Nigeria has called on all stakeholders in the nation’s financial system to collaborate with the commission in its current regulatory drives.
The Director-General of the SEC, Dr Emomotimi Agama, said the regulatory drives are aimed at exploring fully the potential of the investment space for the sustainable development of the country.
Agama stated that while some countries remained the choice of many investors now due to quick return opportunities, in the long run countries like Nigeria would offer longer benefits in view of their huge but yet to be fully explored opportunities.
The SEC Boss revealed this while delivering his keynote address at the Emerging Africa Capital Limited Investor Summit & Awards event themed “Deploying and Mobilising Capital and Investment Strategies in a Shifting Global Economy”.
He noted that the recent reforms initiated by the commission to transform the capital market were achieving desired results but stressed that a collective approach in pushing them would help in positioning Nigeria as a leading investment landscape in the global space.
READ ALSO:IsDB Deepens Private Sector Investment Drive in Nigeria
Cultural Exchange Vital to Deepening Ties With Nigeria – China
He stated that the regulatory reforms, which encompass the introduction of electronic offerings, the deepening of the bond market, the expansion of alternative investment platforms, and the SEC’s engagement with sustainable finance principles, have started to yield positive results in attracting renewed investor interest, indicating an actively evolving market.
Despite the feats, the Director-General admitted that the full potential of what the capital market can do for Nigeria’s development had not yet been fully unlocked, as the market capitalisation, relative to GDP, remained below the benchmarks of Nigeria’s peer economies, while retail investor participation was still too thin and the derivatives market was at its nascent stage.
To translate the potential into real gains for investors and the nation’s economy, Agama advocated collective responsibility since the capital market cannot be single-handedly built by regulators, exchanges, or investors alone, pointing out that its strength lies in stakeholders playing their roles with integrity, competence, and a long-term orientation.
Specifically, he advised domestic corporate issuers to embrace the capital market as their primary pathway to growth financing by improving governance, sharpening disclosure, and building the investor relations capabilities that attract institutional capital.
According to him, “The market rewards quality, and the companies that invest in quality today will access capital on terms that compound their competitive advantage.”
He also encouraged local institutional investors, especially pension fund managers and insurance companies, to get more involved with local capital market tools, actively take part in determining prices, and build their skills to invest confidently in different types of assets and regions, as Nigeria’s savings are a very important resource.
Nigeria stands at an inflection point. The global economy is shifting in ways that create both significant risks and significant opportunities for an emerging market of our scale and potential. The decisions we make, individually as investors and collectively as a financial community, in the next three to five years will determine whether we capture the upside of this moment or allow it to pass us by,” he added.
The Director-General also appealed to his colleagues at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Debt Management Office (DMO), National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), the Pension Commission (PenCom), and other relevant agencies to continue to deepen inter-agency collaboration, harmonise policies, and present a unified, investor-friendly face to the world, as the sophistication of the nation’s capital market depended on the coherence of their regulatory frameworks.