Capital Market Developing Products For Youths – SEC

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has said the capital market is working to develop products that would make the market attractive to the younger generation in a bid to further deepen the market.

Director-general of SEC, Mr. Lamido Yuguda stated this in an interview weekend.

Yuguda who was represented by the head, Office of the Chief Economist of SEC, Dr. Okey Umeano, stated that, this is one of the provisions made in the revised capital market plan in a bid to make further products available to the populace.

“I must tell you that the demographic in our market is graying and it is a source of worry. That is one of the things we are covering in the Revised Capital market master plan.

“We are encouraging Capital Market operators to develop technology. The youths do not want to come in and start filling five page forms because they want to access the market, they want to pick their phones and make their investments,” he said.

Yuguda said,  the youths must understand that the capital market is a viable platform for wealth creation assuring them that the SEC and the market is working on how best to serve them.

According to him, “we are striving to improve the way we deliver our products, to improve market efficiency and to make the market attractive to them. Most importantly, we are doing all we can to ensure that investors are adequately protected in the market and that they are able to get the benefits of their investments.”

He further stated that the SEC is working to ensure that the commodities market gets all the support required to grow and support the economy.

Umeano stated that “because there is good price discovery, people can now ascertain what they can get if they farm a particular produce within a particular period. That is what the value chain that commodities segment of the market is opening up.

“You will soon start seeing it. It is happening but you know it is a new area, it is growing and it is an area we are proud of. it is growing in leaps and bounds; you can see the percentage growth that we have.

“But I must tell you, it is still a small market compared to the size of the Nigerian economy but then they said the journey of a thousand miles starts with a step and I can tell we have made many steps in that direction.”

He disclosed that SEC has increased the number of products in the market as the market now has derivatives and also started to support the non-interest capital market.