Sam Philip
Nigeria s have been assured by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the Investments and Securities Act 2025 would stimulate economic growth.
This assurance was handed down by the Director General of the SEC, Dr. Emomotimi Agama on Thursday describing Act as a stimulant for the capital market.
According to the SEC boss, the new Act provides the SEC the opportunity of retaining its signatory A status with the International Organization of Securities Commission as it allows other countries to benchmark the Nigerian SEC and capital market with other jurisdictions which will drive friendly investments and investors into the Nigerian capital market and also expand the capital market reach in Nigeria.
He said: “This is huge because in the Nigerian population, the youths that are involved in this space are many, so providing clarity and providing legal framework and background to this is very essential for our growth. Beyond all of that we also have the Legal Entity Identifier being introduced into the Nigerian law which speaks to derivatives transactions.
“The commodities ecosystem is well featured in this law being able to provide regulation regarding the commodities ecosystem from the spot market onto the derivative market and the secondary market. We have also been able to remove by this law restrictions by states and local governments in their ability to raise capital and bring development to their states and of course municipal areas. So this for us is very important.
“The capital market is strong enough to provide the much needed funding needs for various sectors of the economy. It is one of the strongest you can think about, our ROI was one of the best in the world for last year. When you look at what the capital market has already done with the bank recapitalization which is still ongoing, you can agree with me that our market is strong.
“Today, the Nigerian capital market has been able to facilitate the raising of capital by banks to the tune of N2.4 trillion and still counting. This has never happened in the history of this country. Our responsibility is to facilitate growth, facilitate exchanges and to facilitate the movement of capital and that we have done successfully with this exercise. Other institutions are also coming to raise capital. The Ministry of Finance Incorporated recently raised N250 billion for housing facilitation in Nigeria.
“This tells you the capital market is resilient and it is showing in the activities that are happening in the capital market. In terms of market recapitalization, it has moved to over N65 trillion and that tells you that the capital market in Nigeria is moving forward.”