Business
SEC, CIS Urge Greater Local Participation In Stock Market
The Securities and Ex
change Commission (SEC) and the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) have reached a consensus to prioritise investor education in a bid to boost the participation of domestic investors in the nation’s capital market.
About 60 per cent of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is currently dominated by foreign investors while only about three million Nigerians are believed to be participating in the market.
However, the Acting Director-General, (SEC) Alhaji Mournir Gwarzo, said enhanced investor-education remains key to altering the current balance and encouraging the development of domestic retail and institutional investors.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, shortly after a meeting with members of CIS led by its president which paid him a courtesy visit, Gwarzo also stressed the need to have strong, regular as well as fit and proper operators to drive the development of the market.
He said the commission would consider areas of assistance to operators in order to boost investor education while SEC would also “look at areas we think they should also step up”.
“We are going to step up our investor education programmes, we are going to collaborate with both the trade association so that we will be able to reach out to the markets. We believe by the time we do so well in terms of investor education, the level of investment from the capital market particularly the domestic side would go up”, Gwarzo said.
He added that on the international front, an enabling environment had already been created for foreign investors and was still being improved upon. “The rules are very friendly, we amend our rules as much as possible to meet international standards.”
Meanwhile, the President/Chairman, Governing Council, CIS, Mr Albert Okumagba, described the current savings mobilisation platforms as weak especially as it related to collective investment schemes, insurance, pensions and banking products.
He said the focus would be to pursue the inclusion plan for the country by training and enhancing local participation.
Okumagba said with the leadership of SEC, “we are going to help in broadening the participation of Nigerians so that to mobilise the savings, we need to fund the infrastructure gaps across the country.