To strengthen Nigeria’s securities market regulation and broaden tradable instruments, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced a $400,000 grant agreement with African Development Bank (ADB).
This was even as the Commission stated that it has recorded significant traction and successes in achieving some key Master Plan objectives such as full Dematerialisation of Share Certificates, recapitalisation of Capital Market Operators, launch of National Investor Protection Fund, new Corporate Governance Scorecard for public companies, and Electronic Dividend Mandate Management System amongst others.
The Director General, SEC , Lamido Yuguda , disclosed this during the recent virtual signing of a $400,000 grant agreement with the ADB.
According to the Commission, the project will support the implementation of SEC Nigeria’s Capital Market Master Plan (CMMP:2015-2025) and its vision to position the capital market as a competitive and attractive destination for portfolio investments.
The grant which will be sourced from the Capital Markets Development Trust Fund, a multi-donor fund administered by the Bank, will strengthen the risk-based supervision framework, regulation of derivatives and green bonds, and build capacity for green finance.
Speaking on the Commission’s initiatives, Yuguda noted that it is at a critical half-way point in the implementation of the CMMP where the deployment of market surveillance infrastructure has become exceedingly necessary, adding that SEC was now focusing on capacity development as a catalyst to drive the actualisation of other strategic initiatives in the Plan.
“Some of the initiatives identified include procurement of a surveillance solution, capacity building in the areas of Risk based supervision, Green Finance and Derivatives. Realising these focus areas align closely to AfDB’s “High 5s” priority sectors for the economic transformation of Africa, we leveraged our strong partnership with AfDB to drive some these key initiatives to strengthen internal and issuer capacity.
“We are very pleased and thankful to AfDB for providing grant support to execute these very important projects. We believe that your support and our collaboration underscore the Commission’s and the bank’s mutual goal to grow the capital market and create viable avenues for sustainable economic growth for Nigeria and the region”, he said.
– The Sun