The Securities and Exchange Commission has said it will drive public awareness of investment in the Nigerian capital market and enhance the adoption of blockchain technology for market development.
Director general of SEC, Dr Emomotimi Agama made the remark during a meeting with Association of Capital Market Academics of Nigeria in Abuja on Tuesday.
He stated the management of SEC will specifically pursue the aspect of blockchain technology to accommodate young minds in capital market investments.
“I am a major enthusiast in blockchain. We will strive to popularise, propagate, and try to support it because that is the investment interest of that demography, and we must follow them up in line with section 13A of the ISA which gives us the power to regulate Investments and Securities business in Nigeria,” Agama said during the meeting.
According to the DG, “In this space, the youths cannot be taken for granted. As much as we encourage innovation and are committed to developing the market when we find out that Nigerians are at risk, we will not hesitate to move in because not moving in would mean we are shirking our responsibilities. We will do all it takes to protect investors”.
He said SEC will embark on aggressive sensitisation to reach the majority of the populace in Nigeria especially the youths to develop and deepen the capital market and attract more young people.
Dr. Agama said the plan is to go all out to sensitise Nigerians especially the youth population on investing in the capital market which he said would lead to wealth creation and better standard of living for Nigerians.
Agama disclosed that the SEC is planning to set up a capital market radio with the aim of reaching Nigerians and enlightening them on the investment opportunities available in the capital market.
“Capital market radio is one of our long-term projects. We intend to have a call-in programme where Nigerians can ask questions on investments and receive immediate responses. People have been lured with various types of investments and that is mainly due to lack of information and greed spurred by poverty. People need to be educated on safe investments” he stated.
He said that Nigeria has over two hundred million people and expressed the need to reach out to everybody including students in whatever form possible.
“It is something I want to promote, we need it to reach out to the grassroots, we need to reach out to everybody in any way that we can as part of our efforts to deepen this market and also promote financial literacy.
“We must change the narratives, as academics you have roles to play by telling the people what the capital market does and how it can help them create wealth,” he said.
The DG further assured that the SEC would be willing to collaborate with ACMAN on resuscitating quiz competition among secondary schools which he said is one of the ways of reaching out to the grassroots.
President of ACMAN, Prof. Uche Uwaleke, told SEC management that their jobs are well cut out as majority of them have been in the market for several years and therefore understand the challenges and what needs to be done all of which he said, have been well articulated in the Capital Market Master Plan.
Prof. Uwaleke said that despite all odds, the Nigerian capital market has remained resilient and to a large extent competitive. In the last few years, it has not only witnessed new asset classes but also new platforms and overall improvement in market infrastructure.
“Much as these are welcome developments, a few challenges have proved seemingly intractable. It goes without saying that the regulatory environment needs to be such that will encourage more company listings on the Exchanges as a way of increasing capital formation and the market contribution to GDP. Hence the primary segment of the market, which has not been very active, deserves more attention in much the same way as the non-interest segment of the capital market and the commodities trading ecosystem.
“Going forward, I expect the new SEC management team, in collaboration with market operators, to leverage blockchain technology to advance the frontiers of the capital market in Nigeria. I have confidence in the ability of Dr Timi Agama, whom I have known over the years, and the entire SEC management team to drive this process.
Uwaleke emphasised the need to boost capital market literacy stating that it will go a long way in growing the retail investor base and enhancing capital market development in Nigeria.
“The SEC should champion the quick introduction of capital market studies in secondary schools and tertiary educational institutions in Nigeria and may also consider reviving the quiz competitions which used to be the practice some years ago. In this regard, the Commission can count on the collaboration of ACMAN, the veritable vehicle for capital market studies in Nigerian Universities,” he added.
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