Economy
NSE Seeks Stockbrokers, Fund Managers Ties to Boost Retail Investment
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in a collaborative effort with fund managers enlightened market professionals on the features and benefits of the NSE Mutual Fund Trading and Distribution Platform on Thursday, October 3, 2019 in Lagos.
The event was aimed at enhancing visibility for listed mutual funds and increase investment interest amongst retail investors to further enhance access to a wide range of open-ended funds in Nigeria.
The one-day workshop featured the Head, Investment Management Department at the Securities Exchange Commission, Mr Efiok E. Efiok; President of the Fund Managers Association of Nigeria (FMAN), Mr Dayo Obisan; The Head of Market Surveillance at the NSE, Mr Abimbola Babalola among other dignified members in the asset management world.
The event also engaged stakeholders to promote access to diverse investment opportunities while building and strengthening investor confidence in the capital markets using mutual funds as a tool.
Looking at the role to that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has played to increase interest and confidence in mutual funds, Mr. Efiok E. Efiok from the SEC noted the trust structure, diversification, and protection put in place had ensured that the commission was promoting awareness in the asset class.
Mr Dayo Obisan, on his part, noted that the collaboration was a step towards investment education leveraging on the stockbroking platform to drive for the distribution of mutual funds meant to tap into the retail investments which will bring in more liquidity to enhance growth.
He also noted that the collaboration was bound to bring about more returns, innovation, and depth by widening distribution which he said should be readily adopted.
He also said that the investing public should be encouraged to look into the growing opportunities of the industry which had a Net Asset Value (NAV) of N621.6 billion from 78 registered funds, and by August 2019 had N801.5 billion from 87 registered funds.
Mr Abimbola Babalola, representing the Exchange, noted that going forward the mutual funds listing on the NSE was a disruption to watch out for as there was bound to be transparency following the shift from direct investments to indirect investments, which will create options for people to invest better.
He hinted that it was also an opportunity to grow local institutional investors who will stabilize the market should foreign investors decide to leave the country and called on stockbrokers to establish a relationship with fund managers which will be profitable to the market.
Mr. Efiok, remarked that the SEC was looking at ways to thrive retail investments by making the authorization process easier and noted that the commission had authorized the introduction a health fund and hinted that a football fund was currently under development.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
