By Modupe Gbadeyanka
In order to give investors more room to grow their wealth through investment in different financial tools, the Debt Management Office (DMO) is considering introducing more sophisticated debt instruments into the fixed income market in Nigeria.
The Director-General of the agency, Ms Patience Oniha, dropped this hint during a two-day webinar to enlighten stockbrokers and investors about the fixed income market.
On Wednesday, the event primarily focused on the dealing member firms, while Thursday was for members of the investing public.
The programme was put together by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in partnership with the DMO and CSL Stockbrokers. It was mainly to further enhance the capacity of capital market players across available asset classes.
Ms Oniha in her presentation said her organisation remains responsive to investors’ needs for portfolio diversification, noting that this has spurred the urge to expand “our fixed income market with more sophisticated debt instruments.”
According to her, the market in Nigeria is capable of attracting both domestic and international players for the overall good of the economy, saying this has led to the growth and activeness of the space, giving room for the government, corporates and multilaterals to raise funds.
She expressed satisfaction with the way the fixed income market has become viable like the money market and the capital market.
Ms Oniha said “in meeting our objectives to finance the budget and deepen capital market activity, we remain committed to using the fixed income platform to support various aspects of the economy.”
The CEO of the NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema, while speaking at the webinar, said the exchange has continued to provide a hybrid market for dealers as well as institutional and retail investors to access increased liquidity in fixed income securities.
He noted that, “The NSE continues to be the foremost platform creating new types of debt instruments in Nigeria with a market capitalisation of about N16.4 trillion.”
“By offering capital raising opportunities and secondary trading to all classes of issuers including sovereign, subnational, corporates and supra-national bonds, the exchange facilitates the interaction between borrowers and lenders in Nigeria, driving an efficient allocation of capital.”
In his presentation, the Equity Analyst at CSL Stockbrokers, Mr Olakayode Olayemi, taught participants the fundamentals of fixed income trading, highlighting the primary and secondary market activities, as well as the investment opportunities and benefits available for investors in the NSE debt market.
