Economy
Regulators Must Keep Tabs on Capital Market Dynamics—Yuguda
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Lamido Yuguda, has tasked regulators in the West African region to keep pace with capital market dynamics by carrying out a regular assessment of policies and programmes to fit current realities and address the region’s peculiar challenges.
Speaking at the West African Capital Markets Conference with the theme Deepening and Strengthening the Capital Markets Across West Africa through Effective Regulation, he said the need for regular assessment necessitated the revision of the WASRA/WACMIC (West African Capital Markets Integration Council) Road Map to reflect current developments and include specific initiatives that will further improve the successful implementation of integration and other efforts.
At the event organised by the West Africa Securities Regulators Association (WASRA) and held in Accra, Ghana, Mr Yuguda said WACMaC periodically presents members with an opportunity to explore the role that financial markets should play in supporting the growth of the real sector of the respective economies and indeed the sub-region in general.
The SEC chief, who doubles as WASRA Chairman, stated that, “We are not unaware that in some member states, capital markets activities are still in their nascent stage.”
“In collaboration with ECOWAS, efforts are being made to encourage these jurisdictions to join WASRA. We intend to engage and partner with them to build capital markets that will support the growth and development of their respective countries while advancing our regional market integration efforts,” he added.
“As the region continues to expand in market size and influence, it becomes increasingly more important to focus our attention on developing world-class markets by looking at innovative ways to address critical issues such as systemic risk, market integrity, investor protection, fintechs and disruptive technologies.
“We must also be steadfast in our collective efforts to close the geographic distance between our markets through ways and means that facilitate regional integration,” the Nigerian stated further.
Mr Yuguda expressed delight at the high level of participation at the meeting emphasizing that the biennial conference is geared toward promoting robust discussions on how to harness resources and effectively optimize collective efforts towards the integration of markets in the region.
This, he stated, will no doubt lead to the realization of a key outcome, namely, an increase in capital markets’ contribution to the economic growth and development of the region.
“You will recall that at our inaugural conference in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, we resolved to continually strive to create an environment that facilitates cross-border securities transactions; strengthen investor protection; build capacity; be more innovative with our processes, among others.
“To this end, we have made significant progress by adopting strategic initiatives aimed at boosting the economy, generating wealth, improving infrastructure development and growing trust and confidence as we strive for a deeper and more resilient capital market” he added.
In his address, the DG of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ghana, Mr Daniel Ogbarmey Tetteh, said the journey to achieve an integrated capital market in the West Africa sub-region began some nine years ago with the overarching goal of creating a regional capital market that would create the platform for various issuers including corporates, governments, regional development bodies, agencies and multilateral to raise relatively cheap capital to fund regional infrastructural projects, corporate expansion and private sector development, cross-border trade and overall economic development of the sub-region.
According to him, “everyone who is participating in this conference has a sense of an appreciation of the important role capital markets play in the mobilization of long term capital in the financing mix of any economy so there is no need to preach to the choir here. The focus of this conference, and rightly so, is on how effective regulation can enable the deepening and strengthening of the capital markets in the sub-region.”
“Any weak link in the regulatory regime in an integrated market can spell doom and hence the need for a lot of effort to be channelled into developing a harmonized set of rules and regulations, the application of best practice in the regulation of securities markets and pursuit of robust cooperation to avoid regulatory arbitrage, protect investors as well as the integrity of the capital markets,” he added.
Mr Tetteh, therefore, called on all the member states of ECOWAS, to get on board as they pursue this noble path to achieve an integrated market in the sub-region.
“No one would do it for us so we owe it to ourselves to assume the responsibility. The good news is that we can do it so let’s go for it. Your very strong participation in this conference says something about commitment to the cause so there’s hope that the dream would become reality,” he stated.
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market firmed up by 1.13 per cent on Friday as appetite for Nigerian stocks remained strong.
Investors reacted well to the 2026 budget presentation of President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly yesterday, especially because of the more realistic crude oil benchmark of $64 per barrel compared with the ambitious $75 per barrel for 2025. This year, prices have been between $60 and $65 per barrel.
Business Post observed profit-taking in the commodity and energy sectors as they respectively shed 0.14 per cent and 0.03 per cent.
But, bargain-hunting in the others sustained the positive run, with the consumer goods index up by 3.82 per cent.
Further, the industrial goods space appreciated by 1.46 per cent, the banking counter improved by 0.08 per cent, and the insurance industry gained 0.04 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,694.33 points to 152,057.38 points from 150,363.05 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N1.080 trillion to finish at N96.937 trillion compared with Thursday’s closing value of N95.857 trillion.
A total of 34 shares ended on the advancers’ chart, while 24 were on the laggards’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
Austin Laz gained 10.00 per cent to close at N2.42, Union Dicon also jumped 10.00 per cent to N6.60, Tantalizers increased by 9.80 per cent to N2.69, Aluminium Extrusion improved by 9.78 per cent to N12.35, and Champion Breweries grew by 9.71 per cent to N16.95.
Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance dipped by 7.42 per cent to N3.87, Royal Exchange lost 6.84 per cent to trade at N1.77, Omatek slipped by 6.84 per cent to N1.09, Eunisell depreciated by 5.88 per cent to N80.00, and Eterna dropped 5.63 per cent to close at N28.50.
Yesterday, traders transacted 1.5 billion units worth N21.8 billion in 25,667 deals compared with the 839.8 million units sold for N32.8 billion in 23,211 deals in the preceding session, showing a surge in the trading volume by 76.61 per cent, an uptick in the number of deals by 10.58 per cent, and a shrink in the trading value by 33.54 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three stocks stretched the bearish run of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.21 per cent on Friday, December 19, with the market capitalisation giving up N26.01 billion to close at N2.121 billion compared with the N2.147 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropping 43.47 points to 3,546.41 points from 3,589.88 points.
The trio of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, and NASD Plc overpowered the gains printed by four other securities.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N6.00 to sell at N54.00 per unit versus N60.00 per unit, NASD Plc shrank by N3.50 to N58.50 per share from N55.00 per share, and CSCS Plc depleted by N2.91 to N33.87 per unit from N36.78 per unit.
On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc gained N1.01 to close at N13.00 per share versus N11.99 per share, Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 70 Kobo to N7.68 per unit from N6.98 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc added 39 Kobo to sell at N5.50 per share versus N5.11 per share, and IPWA Plc rose by 8 Kobo to 85 Kobo per unit from 77 Kobo per unit.
During the trading day, market participants traded 1.9 million securities versus the previous day’s 30.5 million securities showing a decline of 49.3 per cent. The value of trades went down by 64.3 per cent to N80.3 million from N225.1 million, but the number of deals jumped by 32.1 per cent to 37 deals from 28 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc finished the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units traded for N4.9 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was still InfraCredit Plc with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira at the two major foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday as it suffered a heavy loss against the United States Dollar at the close of transactions.
In the black market segment, the Naira weakened against its American counterpart yesterday by N10 to quote at N1,485/$1, in contrast to the N1,475/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank forex counter, it depreciated by N2 to settle at N1,467/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,465/$1.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) window, which is also the official market, the nation’s legal tender crashed against the greenback by N6.65 or 0.46 per cent to close at N1,464.49/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,457.84/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency tumbled against the Euro in the spot market by N2.25 to sell for N1,714.63/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,712.38/€1, but appreciated against the Pound Sterling by 73 Kobo to finish at N1,957.30/£1 compared with the N1,958.03/£1 it was traded in the preceding session.
The market continues to face seasonal pressure even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is still conducting FX intervention sales, which have significantly reduced but not remove pressure from the Naira. Also, there seems to be reduced supply from exporters, foreign portfolio investors and non-bank corporate inflows.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented the government’s N58.47 trillion budget plan aimed at consolidating economic reforms and boosting growth.
The budget is based on a projected crude oil price of $64.85 a barrel and includes a target oil output of 1.84 million barrels a day. It also projects an exchange rate of N1,400 to the Dollar.
President Tinubu said inflation had plunged to an annual rate of 14.45 per cent in November from 24.23 per cent in March, while foreign reserves had surged to a seven-year high of $47 billion.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was dominated by the bulls but it continues to face increased pressure after million in liquidations in previous session over accelerating declines, with Dogecoin (DOGE) recovering 4.2 per cent to trade at $0.1309.
Further, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $1.90, Cardano (ADA) rose by 3.5 per cent to $0.3728, Solana (SOL) jumped by 3.4 per cent to $126.23, Ethereum (ETH) climbed by 2.9 per cent to $2,982.42, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 2.0 per cent to sell for $853.06, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 1.7 per cent to $88,281.21, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 1.2 per cent to $76.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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