Investor Participation Central to Growth of Any Economy—Onyema

September 22, 2020
Nigerian Stock Exchange NSE Oscar Onyema

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The need to increase the level of participation of retail investors in the capital market to achieve economic development has been stressed by the CEO of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr Oscar Onyema.

According to Mr Onyema, retail investment opportunities in the capital market must be made available to investors and should be accessible to them so as to grow the economy.

At the inaugural edition of the retail investors’ webinar organised by the NSE on Monday, the capital market guru said a number of products tailored to meet the financial objectives of retail investors were designed by the exchange as part of its determination to develop the market and strengthen investor confidence.

He listed some of the product offerings that can be accessed conveniently via electronic platforms as equities, bonds, ETFs and other collective investment schemes.

“We will continue to take advantage of the vast opportunities to equip existing and potential investors with the necessary skills to effectively manage and grow the financial resources at their disposal,” Mr Onyema assured.

Business Post gathered the exchange has shown its clear determination to ensure that investors have a better understanding and appreciation of investment products offered in the Nigerian capital market in its efforts to become Africa’s preferred exchange hub.

The upswing in market activities in the second quarter of 2020 is a testament to the resilience of the market as a result of concerted efforts of the bourse.

As at the end of August 2020, the All Share Index (ASI) had recorded an 18.9 per cent increase from its position at the end of March 2020.

In addition, the market also witnessed a growth in the percentage value of equity transactions contributed by retail investors, currently at 29 per cent from the 21.8 per cent recorded in 2018 and 24.72 per cent recorded in 2019.

For the Head of Market Services at the NSE, Mr Olufemi Balogun, retail investors can make good use of market data to grow their wealth and recently, the NSE upgraded its X-DataPortal to help users to get quality real-time and reference data reports for analysis, research and reporting purposes.

Also speaking, the Managing Director of the Nigerian International Securities Limited (NISL), Mr Laolu Martins, commended the NSE for consistently pioneering far-reaching innovations within the Nigerian capital market, positively driving market integrity, boosting both investor confidence and market participation.

He highlighted the efforts of the NISL to create wealth for investors via an appropriate mix of securities using well spelt out market research to help investors meet their financial objectives.

In doing so, he provided an analysis of the investment instruments available on NSE including equities, bonds, REITS, Closed-Ended Funds, ETFs, etc.

The webinar yesterday was organised by the NSE in collaboration with NISL and support from the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) and the Association of Securities Dealing Houses of Nigeria (ASHON).

The event was themed Capital Market Investing in a Digital Age and had several people from the investment community, media and others in attendance.

Modupe Gbadeyanka

Modupe Gbadeyanka is a fast-rising journalist with Business Post Nigeria. Her passion for journalism is amazing. She is willing to learn more with a view to becoming one of the best pen-pushers in Nigeria. Her role models are the duo of CNN's Richard Quest and Christiane Amanpour.

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