Economy
Qualinvest Capital Emerges Most Active Stockbroker in June, Q2 2019
By Dipo Olowookere
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Wema Bank Plc, Qualinvest Capital Limited, has topped the best performing stockbroking companies in the month of June 2019 and second quarter of 2019, Business Post is reporting.
Last month, the company transacted the highest volume of shares in the country, contributing 48.62 percent to the 81.37 percent the top 10 firms added to the total volume of equities traded on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The company traded 10.6 billion shares in the period under review.
Taking the second position was Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Ltd, which traded 2.1 billion units or 9.55 percent, while the third was EFG Hermes Nigeria Ltd, which sold 1.4 billion equities or 6.34 percent.
Occupying the fourth spot was APT Securities and Funds, which exchanged 1 billion shares or 4.67 percent, while the fifth was Rencap Securities Nigeria Ltd, transacting 693.4 million shares or 3.19 percent.
CSL Stockbrokers Ltd traded 640.6 million or 2.94 percent, Chapel Hill Denham Securities Ltd exchanged 394.6 million units or 1.81 percent, Quantum Zenith Securities and Investment Ltd transacted 341.7 million or 1.57 percent, Cardinalstone Securities Ltd sold 299.9 million shares or 1.38 percent, while Tellimer Capital Ltd traded 284.1 million equities or 1.31 percent.
In all, these 10 brokerage firms transacted a total of 17.7 billion shares in the month of June 2019.
On the value side, it was Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers that claimed the top spot, recording transactions worth N87.6 billion or 29.67 percent of the trades last month.
APT Securities and Funds followed with N64 billion transactions or 21.69 percent, EFG Hermes recorded N30.1 billion trades or 10.18 percent, Rencap exchanged stocks valued at N24 billion or 8.14 percent, while CSL Stockbrokers sold equities worth N12.1 billion or 4.10 percent.
Tellimer Capital traded equities worth N6.9 billion or 2.32 percent, Chapel Hill Denham Securities sold shares valued at N6.8 billion or 2.29 percent, Qualinvest Capital exchanged stocks worth N6.7 billion or 2.28 percent, Quantum Zenith Securities and Investment sold shares valued at N6.6 billion or 2.22 percent, with Cordros Securities Ltd transacting N4.2 billion equities or 1.43 percent.
Business Post reports that from June 1 to 28, 2019, shares valued at N249 billion were transacted by these 10 companies and they contributed 84.33 percent of the total trades on the NSE.
In the second quarter of this year, Qualinvest Capital topped the best performing stockbrokers’ table, with 10.7 billion shares traded by the firm, contributing 20.85 percent to the total volume of trades.
Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers sold 4.6 billion shares or 9.06 percent, Greenwich Trust executed 3.2 billion equities or 6.28 percent, Cardinalstone Securities exchanged 2.7 billion stocks or 5.24 percent, while EFG Hermes transacted 2.3 billion equities or 4.59 percent.
Rencap Securities transacted 2.2 billion shares or 4.34 percent of the total volume in Q2 2019, CSL Stockbrokers traded 1.9 billion shares or 3.76 percent, Morgan Capital Securities sold 1.8 billion equities or 3.61 percent, APT Securities traded 1.4 billion stocks or 2.79 percent, while Chapel Hill Denham transacted 1.3 billion or 2.66 percent.
In the period under consideration, the above companies traded a total of 32.3 billion shares, contributing 63.18 percent of the total volume of shares sold at the NSE.
In value terms, Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers claimed the number one spot, trading stocks worth N148.2 billion or 22.39 percent of the total value of shares sold on the NSE from April 1, 2019 to June 28, 2019.
APT Securities and Funds occupied the second spot with N68.7 billion or 10.38 percent, while Rencap Securities claimed the third position for the N64.9 billion shares or 9.81 percent it recorded.
Coronation Securities sold N51.6 billion equities or 7.80 percent, EFG Hermes traded N43.7 billion stocks or 6.60 percent, CSL Stockbrokers transacted N37.6 billion shares or 5.68 percent, Chapel Hill Denham exchanged N25 billion shares or 3.77 percent, Tellimer Capital sold N19.2 billion equities or 2.90 percent, Cardinalstone Securities traded N18.8 billion shares or 2.84 percent, while FBN Quest Securities transacted N17.4 billion equities or 2.63 percent.
In all, the total value of stocks transacted by investors through these stockbrokers was N495 billion, contributing 74.80 percent of the total value of trades in Q2 2019.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Manufacturers are yet to benefit from relief on the burden of multiple taxes and levies despite the enactment of the Nigeria Tax Act 2025, according to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN).
The association, in its Manufacturers CEO Confidence Index (MCCI) report for the second quarter of 2026, said manufacturers continued to face multiple tax collectors and regulatory agencies during the period.
Director-General of MAN, Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said the new tax law, which was expected to reduce the burden of multiple taxation, had yet to deliver the intended benefits.
“Manufacturers complained that they were still met with multiple tax collectors and regulators in Q2 2026. It follows that the implementation of the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 is yet to achieve its objective of relieving manufacturers of the burden of taxes and levies,” he said.
According to the report, Nigeria’s business environment remains largely unsupportive of manufacturing growth, with local sourcing of raw materials emerging as the only indicator that recorded noticeable improvement.
MAN, however, warned that the gains in local sourcing could be undermined by worsening insecurity in parts of the country.
The association attributed the improvement largely to persistent foreign exchange constraints, which have forced many manufacturers to source inputs locally.
Despite this, it said excessive regulation and multiple taxation continue to weigh heavily on manufacturers.
The report showed that manufacturers recorded a modest increase in sales volume during the second quarter, but rising production, distribution and logistics costs continued to erode profitability.
It added that capacity utilisation, production levels, investment and employment remained broadly unchanged during the review period.
MAN further observed that although recent foreign exchange reforms had helped stabilise the naira, inadequate foreign currency supply remained a major constraint to manufacturing operations.
Other key challenges identified in the report include poor infrastructure, high production costs, raw material shortages and unfavourable trade policies.
The association said the findings underscore the continued pressure on manufacturers despite recent fiscal and foreign exchange reforms, stressing the need for more effective implementation of policies aimed at improving the operating environment for the real sector.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government spent N3.14 trillion on servicing its domestic debt in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO).
The figure, contained in the DMO’s latest domestic debt service report for Q1 2026, comprised N2.97 trillion in interest payments and N169.68 billion in principal repayments.
According to the report, the government spent N741.82 billion on domestic debt service in January before the figure rose to N967.67 billion in February.
Debt service increased further to N1.43 trillion in March, bringing total spending for the quarter to N3.14 trillion.
The March figure represented a 47.7 per cent increase from the N967.67 billion recorded in February and was 92.7 per cent higher than the N741.82 billion spent in January.
The debt office said interest payments accounted for approximately 94.6 per cent of the total domestic debt service during the quarter.
Treasury bills accounted for the largest share of interest payments at N1 trillion, while interest payments on Federal Government bonds stood at N1.96 trillion.
The government also paid N4.24 billion in interest on FGN savings bonds during the period.
The debt management body said the principal component of the debt service comprised N169.68 billion in repayments on local-denominated promissory notes.
Overall, domestic debt service rose significantly throughout the quarter, with March alone accounting for nearly half of the N3.14 trillion spent between January and March.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Emomotimi Agama, has outlined how the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) can leverage Nigeria’s capital market to raise long-term funds for critical infrastructure projects instead of relying solely on annual budgetary allocations.
According to Mr Agama, the capital market offers the FCT a sustainable financing model for roads, rail, housing, water, transport and other infrastructure through instruments such as infrastructure bonds, green bonds, real estate investment trusts (REITs), asset recycling and tokenised municipal securities.
Speaking at the Abuja Business and Investment Summit and Expo (ABIE 2026) in Abuja, the SEC chief noted that Abuja’s development demonstrates that economic growth is driven by investment, stressing that “cities are not built by budgets alone. Cities are built by capital markets.”
He advised the FCT to establish a long-term infrastructure bond programme backed by dedicated revenue sources such as ground rents, tenement rates, tolls, parking fees and land-use charges, noting that this would enable the territory to finance major projects without overburdening annual budgets.
“A budget can only spend what a single year has collected. A bond can spend what 30 years will collect,” Mr Agama said, explaining that infrastructure projects generate long-term economic value that can be used to service debt over time.
The SEC boss said the territory could also access cheaper financing through green and sustainability-linked bonds for projects including mass transit, light rail, solar-powered street lighting, waste-to-energy facilities and water infrastructure.
He further proposed the creation of an FCT Real Estate Investment Trust to unlock value from Abuja’s extensive property portfolio while giving ordinary Nigerians an opportunity to invest in the city’s real estate market.
Mr Agama also urged Abuja Investments Company Limited (AICL) to consider listing some of its businesses or establishing a listed infrastructure fund, saying this would raise capital without increasing government debt while improving corporate governance and transparency.
On the long-abandoned Millennium Tower project, he said the estimated over N400 billion completion cost should not be viewed as a budgetary burden but as an investment opportunity that could be financed through a special purpose vehicle and offered to investors via the capital market.
“The question is not whether Nigeria can afford the Millennium Tower. The question is whether we will let ordinary Nigerians own it,” he said.
Mr Agama further proposed an asset recycling programme under which completed income-generating public assets, including terminals, markets, commercial properties and the International Conference Centre, could be securitised or concessioned to institutional investors, with proceeds reinvested in new infrastructure.
He also called on the FCT to pioneer a regulated tokenised municipal bond programme that would allow citizens to invest as little as N10,000 through mobile phones in specific infrastructure projects.
According to him, the recently enacted Investments and Securities Act (ISA) 2025 has strengthened the legal framework for sub-national governments to access the capital market while providing enhanced investor protection and clearer regulation of digital assets.
Mr Agama disclosed that Nigeria’s capital market has grown significantly, with total market capitalisation exceeding N217 trillion as of May 2026, comprising about N160.5 trillion in equities and N56.7 trillion in bonds.
He said recent reforms, including the migration to a T+1 settlement cycle and regulatory measures to deepen market participation, have improved market efficiency and strengthened investor confidence.
The SEC DG assured the FCTA of the commission’s readiness to provide technical support for structuring and registering capital market instruments, saying the agency would work closely with the territory to unlock financing for infrastructure projects.
He added that Nigeria’s capital market remains critical to mobilising domestic savings for national development, insisting that “money is not scarce; delivery capacity is scarce, and financing follows delivery capacity.”
