Economy
SEC Developing Regulations for Credible, Stable Capital Market—Yuguda
By Dipo Olowookere
The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Lamido Yuguda, has said the agency has continued to develop regulations to make the Nigerian capital market more credible and stable.
According to him, a credible and stable capital market will propel the Nigerian economy from its developing status to an advanced category like the United States and others.
Speaking at the first Nigeria Employers Summit organised by the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) in Abuja recently, the SEC DG said efforts are being made to ensure that the domestic capital market becomes one of the world’s deepest by 2025 through the 10-year Capital Market Master Plan.
He said this is why the commission has over the years continued to put in place clear and consistently applied regulatory frameworks to reduce regulatory and operational impediments and engender the smooth functioning of the market.
“As the apex regulator of the Nigerian capital market, the SEC has executed several initiatives to build a collaborative regulatory environment for enterprise competitiveness, job creation and national development.
“Through its 10-year Capital Market Master Plan (2015-2025), which serves as the primary roadmap for the development of the Nigerian capital market, the commission has mapped out strategies to build a capital market that is the largest on the continent of Africa and one of the world’s deepest by 2025.
“The master plan’s implementation has been admitted as the 246th programme and project in the recently approved National Development Plan 2021-2025 (NDP2515033),” he said.
“The commission continues to enhance its regulatory framework through the issuance of rules to keep pace with market trends.
“Recent ones include rules on investment-based crowdfunding, which created an enabling environment for capital raising by start-ups and on annual renewal of registration of capital market operators to ensure only fit and proper persons operate in the Nigerian capital market,” Mr Yuguda added.
The DG said the agency has continued to strive to fulfil its mandate of protecting investors and creating an enabling environment for market operations and has remained consistent in its mandate of ensuring that the market provides an important channel of financing for the real sector to drive economic growth; allocate risk appropriately; support financial stability and smoothen transmission of monetary policy.
He, however, noted that the capital market is making efforts to do more in the areas of provision of long-term funds to develop infrastructure for the country and support developmental projects, canvassing the need to further deepen the Nigerian capital market for it to contribute to the required long-term capital that Nigeria needs for business investment, infrastructure and other innovative financings.
“The gains of the capital market development will be macroeconomic development, lower transaction cost, greater liquidity, improved productivity and infrastructure development.
“The development of the capital market will facilitate a housing finance revolution. It will facilitate improved allocation of capital and provide small, medium and large companies access to the market to raise funds; facilitate foreign inflows of capital; raise productivity growth and lower unemployment. Capital market development is a spur for growth; improved living standards and efficiency. The impact of these efforts will be a superior economic performance of the Nigerian economy,” he added.
Mr Yuguda stated that since its formation in 1957, NECA has earned a reputation as a viable platform for interaction between private sector employers, government, labour and other relevant stakeholders.
“We at SEC identify with NECA’s commitment and drive towards promoting a favourable environment for businesses to thrive and contribute maximally to national development,” he stated.
According to him, the theme for this year’s summit, The Private Sector – An Engine for National Development, would not have come at a better time than now, when nations are working to manage their economies amidst the devastating effects of COVID-19 and unravelling global political developments.
“I must also mention that the topic, Building a Collaborative Regulatory Environment for Enterprise Competitiveness, Job Creation and National Development, is a tacit reminder that building a viable economic system requires cooperation and commitment of all relevant stakeholders operating in a robust regulatory environment,” Mr Yuguda said.
By Dipo Olowookere
It was a good day for the stock market in Nigeria as it appreciated by 0.79 per cent on Friday to bring the year-to-date return to 0.66 per cent.
This was influenced by renewed interest across most of the sectors of the market, though the insurance index declined by 2.15 per cent when trading activities ended for the session.
Business Post reports that the banking counter appreciated by 1.97 per cent, the consumer goods space grew by 0.70 per cent, the industrial goods sector gained 0.09 per cent, and the energy counter closed flat.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 810.26 points to 103,598.46 points from the preceding day’s 102,788.20 points and the market capitalisation by N497 billion to N63.645 trillion from Thursday’s N63.148 trillion.
Chellaram was the biggest price gainer on Friday after it chalked up 10.00 per cent to trade at N4.07, Guinness Nigeria also appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N77.00, SCOA Nigeria improved by 10.00 per cent to N3.96, Transcorp Power jumped by 7.96 per cent to N349.80, and Lasaco Assurance went up by 7.19 per cent to N3.28.
Conversely, Neimeth was the biggest price loser as it shed 9.88 per cent to N3.10, John Holt declined by 9.78 per cent to N8.30, International Energy Insurance depleted by 9.74 per cent to N1.76, Sovereign Trust Insurance fell by 9.40 per cent to N1.06, and Austin Laz lost 9.00 per cent to close at N1.82.
As for the activity chart, a total of 576.4 million stocks valued at N9.0 billion in 11,546 deals compared with the 394.4 million stocks worth N22.8 billion traded in 12,160 deals in the preceding session, indicating a rise in the trading volume by 46.15 per cent, and a decline in the trading value and number of deals by 60.53 per cent and 5.05 per cent.
Secure Electronic Technology was the busiest equity with 202.2 million units worth N151.8 million, Nigerian Breweries traded 42.1 million units valued at N1.3 billion, Japaul exchanged 34.6 million units for N79.7 million, Access Holdings sold 32.2 million units valued at N807.0 million, and Sovereign Trust Insurance traded 17.0 million units worth N18.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.42 per cent gain on Friday, January 24 after three equities ended on the advancers’ chart at the close of business.
Nipco Plc gained N15.01 during the trading day to close at N165.11 per share versus N150.10 per share of the preceding session, Okitipupa Plc added N4.79 to end the session at N52.69 per unit compared with Thursday’s trading value of N47.90 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc expanded by 80 Kobo to trade at N24.00 per share, in contrast to the N23.30 per share it was sold a day earlier.
The gains recorded by these stocks pushed the value of the bourse higher by NN7.41 billion to N1.775 trillion from the N1.767 trillion recorded in the preceding session and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) grew by 6.93 points to wrap the session at 3,133.20 points compared with 3,120.13 points recorded in the previous session.
Yesterday, the price of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc went down by 92 Kobo to end the session at N38.58 per share, in contrast to the previous day’s N39.50 per share.
The volume of securities traded in the session decreased on Friday by 95.9 per cent to 16.3 million units from 407.4 million units, the value of shares traded yesterday slumped by 97.4 per cent to N10.2 million from N391.2 million units, and the number of deals declined by 23.3 per cent to 23 deals from 30 deals.
Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 406.5 million units worth N386.1 million, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 4.3 million units valued at N170.4 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.1 million units sold for N44.3 million.
Impresit Bakolori Plc was also the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 406.5 million units worth N386.1 million, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 26.3 million units sold for N6.3 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.2 million units valued at N44.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira extended its recent gaining spree by 1.12 per cent or N17.39 on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, January 24.
Yesterday, the local currency was traded in the official market at N1,531.20/$1 compared with the preceding trading day’s value of N1,548.59/$1.
The recent appreciation aligns with expectations that the Naira will appreciate in the first quarter of the year, backed by continued policy support by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with the latest being the launch of the FX Code due next week to enhance transparency in the market.
Also, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the spot market on the last trading day of the week by N8.97 to quote at N1,903.24/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s exchange rate of N1,912.21/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N8.72 to finish at N1,605.17/€1 versus the preceding day’s N1,613.89/€1.
In the same vein, the domestic currency appreciated against the American Dollar in the parallel market yesterday to sell for N1,660/$1 compared with the N1,665/$1 it was traded a day earlier.
In the cryptocurrency market, there was profit-taking following earlier euphoria around US President Donald Trump’s ambitious “Stargate Project” announcement, which is a $500 billion commitment to enhancing the US AI infrastructure.
Crypto commentators believe this signals a shift toward reduced oversight with the pledge unveiled on Tuesday, bringing together tech giants OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank with an initial commitment of $100 billion, scaling to $500 billion over four years.
Solana (SOL) dipped by 4.9 per cent to trade at $247.14, Ethereum (ETH) dropped 2.8 per cent to $3,290.29, Dogecoin (DOGE) fell by 2.4 per cent to $0.3488, and Cardano (ADA) slid by 2.1 per cent to $0.9763.
Further, Ripple (XRP) went down by 1.9 per cent to $3.11, Binance Coin (BNB) shrank by 0.7 per cent to $687.71, and Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 0.6 per cent to $104,369.28, while Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $121.63, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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