Economy
Experts Seek Reorganization of Nigeria’s Financial Market Structure
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The urgent need for the reorganisation of the present structure of the financial market in Nigeria has been stressed by stakeholders in the Nigerian capital market, asset management and banking sectors.
One of the experts, Mr Gbenga Adigun, the Business Head of Zimvest, noted that investors are gravely concerned with investment returns in light of the current low yield environment, while financial institutions are thinking of how their product development and service delivery should evolve with the changing needs of investors.
Mr Adigun gave this submission at the Zimvest Economy Conversations, a thought-leadership series of Digital Private Wealth and Investment Management Firm, Zimvest (Zedcrest Investment Managers), held on Saturday, June 20, 2020.
He and others agreed that there was an urgent need for a rethink of the nation’s economic philosophy and a reset of the financial market architecture.
The CEO of FMDQ Group, Mr Bola Onadele Koko, while delivering the keynote speech on the event theme The Economic Landscape and Investor Preferences in Post-pandemic Africa, highlighted the impact of the growing pandemic on African markets.
He laid emphasis on the slowdown in key segments of the economy including the financial markets, tourism, remittances and foreign direct investments. He called for a rethink of Nigeria’s economic philosophy with clarity from the fiscal policymakers which will be critical for gaining investors’ confidence.
“Now is the time to develop new and ingenious ways to develop and drive the Nigerian financial market and in the continent at large.
Private capital will especially be more essential as recent shocks have shown the limits of Governments’ abilities particularly in developing countries,” he said.
The capital market leader also stated that FX reforms will be critical for the Nigerian economy at this point, noting that trading activity in the Nigerian Fixed-Income and Interbank Currencies market was down by 55 percent due to economic slowdown linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.
All panellists in this first episode of the thought-leadership series pointed out that most investors were affected by the pandemic and are looking for further ways to diversify their portfolios that may end the year on a negative real return.
Speaking during the panel session, Ms Abiola Adekoya, a wealth expert and former CEO of RMB Securities, stated that one of the key things that investors are concerned about in this era is the need for diversification, more liquidity and higher investment returns.
“A lot of investors have been focused on one product and this pandemic has shown that that is not enough. The nascent interest in alternative assets have shown that there is strong liquidity in the overlooked retail space and investment managers should pay keen attention and develop alternative assets products, and reduce the reliance on the traditional fixed income, money markets and equities offerings,” she said.
Echoing Ms Adekoya’s thoughts on alternative assets was Ms Esiri Agbeyi, a partner and Head Private Wealth Services at PwC Nigeria, who emphasised the need for investors to take a keen interest in private equity and other alternative assets investments.
She shared a PWC survey on Family Offices. The survey revealed that 63 percent of family businesses leaned towards private equity as an investment portfolio. Local pools of private capital are important to drive economic development
On her part, the Divisional Head of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS), Ms Onome Komolafe, stated the need for improved product development and differentiation, clear market segmentation and smart communication as tools that financial services firms can deploy in evolving with the changing consumer behaviour.
She also pointed to premium service delivery and technological innovation as crucial to democratization of investment opportunities in Africa.
The Group Executive, Treasury & Financial Institutions at First Bank, Mr Ini Ebong, pointed out the present opportunity available for investors, regulators, institutions, market practitioners to reset Nigerian financial market architecture. He noted that this opportunity presents itself mostly around periods of crisis.
According to him, as markets develop, the investing public becomes more able to embrace risk and go for higher return instruments outside traditional bank-based deposits.
“If you want high returns on investment, you must be willing to take on more risky investment products”, said Adetoun Dosunmu, Treasurer at FBN Merchant Bank. “Giving the highly specialized nature of investing, working with a regulated fund manager will be most beneficial to the investor in the long run and would protect against fraud and sharp practices from the teeming number of platforms offering untested investment opportunities”.
During his closing remark, the founder of Zedcrest Group and the chief host of the event, Mr Saheed Adedayo Amzat, called on the Nigerian capital market stakeholders to unite to further capital formation in the country. He sounded a note of warning to Nigerians on suspicious wealth generation platforms.
“Many unsuspecting investors over the last three decades have lost their funds to unregulated institutions that promised unbelievable returns.
“All stakeholders in the sector need to speak up and inform the unsuspecting public about investment platforms. Our regulators need to do more with the support of all players in the Investment management space,” he opined.
The much-anticipated event lived up to its billings as over 1,150 participants engaged the speakers on investment challenges and opportunities they can tap into post-COVID-19.
Zimvest, the newly launched Investment Management subsidiary of Zedcrest, plans to be at the nexus of a continuing conversation series around Investment management and economic policy landscapes. The second edition of the series is to be announced soon.
A poll conducted during the event also shows that over 60 percent of participants prioritized Capital Preservation when choosing an investment option.
Over 72 percent were concerned about inflation and exchange rate fluctuations and over 81 percent were concerned about Proven Track Record, Regulatory Compliance and Transparency when choosing an investment management partner. The session ended at exactly 1pm on the day.
A replay of this session can be watched via: https://zoom.us/rec/play/upcscbr–z83GtOSuQSDBqcvW9W0e6KsgCVI__dYy0yyWiNQNlShYbAaMLScQgqeV7fIjyl2RsrXPBOZ
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
About N878.7 billion was remitted to federal and state authorities in taxes, levies and duties by MTN Nigeria Communications Plc in the 2025 financial year.
According to details of the company’s 2025 Sustainability Report, this amount was 15 per higher than the previous year, helping the country achieve its target of expanding non-oil revenue and improving tax collection under its fiscal reform agenda, corporate tax contributions from major private-sector operators.
In 2023, MTN Nigeria paid N543.9 billion in taxes and levies, and a year later, it moved higher by about 62 per cent to N764 billion.
The N878.7 billion remitted to the government in 2025 covered corporation tax, value-added tax, spectrum fees, import duties, NCC levies and contributions under the Rural and Urban Terrestrial Infrastructure (RUTI) tax credit scheme, an initiative with deep roots in MTN Nigeria’s public-private partnership playbook.
The company has long embraced such mechanisms: it participated in the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme, under which it committed N202.8 billion towards reconstructing the 110-kilometre Enugu-Onitsha Expressway.
In 2025, the RUTI scheme reached 50% completion after securing approval for an additional N23 billion tax credit aimed at expanding fibre and telecoms infrastructure in underserved communities, a model the company argues supports infrastructure development without requiring direct public expenditure.
The report also highlighted the firm’s growing domestic economic footprint, with 62 per cent of procurement spending directed to Nigerian suppliers in 2025. This was up from 59.6 per cent a year earlier.
MTN Nigeria said the policy aligns with the federal government’s local-content objectives and supports sectors including civil construction, logistics, software services and power infrastructure.
The organisation’s operational footprint expanded to 2,087 active base stations nationwide, while active mobile subscribers stood at 85.4 million by the third quarter of 2025. Active data users rose to 51.1 million, supported by smartphone penetration of 65.1 per cent.
During the year, MTN Nigeria renewed its 800MHz spectrum licence for another 10 years, to December 2034, and secured regulatory approval to lease additional spectrum from T2 Mobile, formerly 9Mobile, across 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is considering a new partnership model that could give Chinese investors a majority 51 per cent stake in the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries as part of efforts to revive and commercially reposition the struggling national assets.
Details of the proposed arrangement emerged after NNPC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China’s Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited and Xinganchen (Fuzhou) Industrial Park Operation and Management Co. Ltd. for what the national oil company described as a “potential technical equity partnership”.
The agreement, signed on April 30 in Jiaxing City, China, involved NNPC’s chief executive, Mr Bayo Ojulari, Sanjiang Chemical Chairman, Mr Guan Jianzhong, and Xinganchen Chairman, Mr Bill Bi.
According to reports, the framework is modelled after the Nigeria LNG structure, where investors hold majority equity, participate in governance and remain actively involved in operations over the long term.
Under the proposed arrangement, the Chinese firms are expected to help complete outstanding engineering and rehabilitation work at the Port Harcourt and Warri facilities while also providing operations and maintenance services aimed at delivering sustainable, world-class refinery performance.
Beyond restarting the plants, the partnership is expected to target capacity expansion, improved refining yields, cleaner fuel production and stronger profitability.
The agreement also opens the door to broader industrial ambitions, including petrochemical integration and gas-based industrial projects built around the refinery corridors.
Recall that Mr Ojulari, at the signing ceremony in April, described the deal as a major breakthrough following more than six months of negotiations.
“All parties recognise mutually beneficial opportunities for the development and long-term sustainable profitability of NNPC’s refining assets in Nigeria and the collective weight required for success,” he said.
He added that the MoU marked an important step towards identifying technical equity partners capable of restarting and expanding Nigeria’s state-owned refineries.
“The MoU is a significant step on the journey towards identifying potential technical equity partner(s) to restart and expand NNPC’s refineries and to explore opportunities in co-located petrochemical and gas-based industries,” Mr Ojulari stated.
Reports indicate that the arrangement remains non-binding and subject to technical, financial, legal and regulatory reviews before any final commercial agreements can be executed. Due diligence will cover engineering performance, operational viability, financial structure, commercial feasibility and legal compliance.
The Port Harcourt refinery rehabilitation contract had earlier been awarded to Italian engineering giant Maire Tecnimont, while separate repair efforts were also launched at the Warri refinery.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The total issued and fully paid-up shares of Eterna Plc are almost 2.2 billion after the listing of additional shares of the company on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited this week.
Precisely on Wednesday, an additional 882,064,158 ordinary shares of the organisation were listed on Customs Street, a regulatory notice confirmed.
These extra stocks were from the rights issue of the firm, issued to shareholders at N22.00 per unit on the basis of three new ordinary stocks for every existing four ordinary stocks held as at the close of business on Thursday, November 27, 2025.
Eterna wanted to sell a total of 978,108,485 units, but investors only picked 882,064,158, indicating a subscription rate of 90.18 per cent.
At midweek, the new equities were brought to the stock exchange for listing, increasing the total issued and fully paid-up shares of the company from 1,304,144,647 units to 2,186,208,805 units.
“Trading licence holders are hereby notified that an additional 882,064,158 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of Eterna Plc were on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, listed on the daily official list of NGX.
“The additional shares arose from the company’s rights issue of 978,108,485 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N22.00 per share on the basis of three new ordinary shares for every existing four ordinary shares held as at the close of business on Thursday, November 27, 2025.
“With the listing of the additional 882,064,158 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of Eterna Plc have now increased from 1,304,144,647 to 2,186,208,805 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each,” the notice signed by the Head of Issuer Regulation Department at NGX RegCo Limited, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai, stated.
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