By Dipo Olowookere
The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Lamido Yuguda, has promised to work towards the integration of the capital markets in West Africa.
The SEC chief gave this assurance when he was chosen as the Chairman of the West African Securities Regulators Association (WASRA).
Mr Yuguda became the WASRA Chairman on Monday, June 14, 2021, and succeeded Mr Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh, the DG of SEC Ghana, who occupied the position for over two years.
He was handed over the mantle of leadership of the organisation at a virtual ceremony, which had members of the Executive Council of WASRA as well as all CEOs of member regulatory authorities.
The Nigerian will lead the body of West African securities regulators for a two-year period and in his acceptance speech, he thanked his predecessor for the milestones accomplished by the association over the last two and a half years, expressing his commitment towards attaining the core values and vision of WASRA.
“Integration of the capital markets in the sub-region will be the focus of this leadership as we look to operationalise WASRA regulations in kick-starting the activities of capital market operators across the sub-region in a fair and transparent manner,” he said.
WASRA was established in 2015 as an association of capital market regulatory institutions comprising of Nigeria, Ghana and Conseil Regional de L’Epargne Publique et des Marches Financiers (CREPMF) made up of: Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Guinea Bissau, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Burkina Faso, Benin Republic and Niger, to foster market integration in the West African sub-region.
Adedapo Adesanya