Economy
SEC Steps up Efforts to Attract More Nigerians to Capital Market
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it was increasing its efforts to attract more Nigerians to the capital market.
While it is doing this, on the one hand, it is also, on the other hand sanitising the space of fraudulent fund managers, who offer investors mouth-watery returns.
Speaking when a team from the Central Bank of The Gambia was on a study visit to the commission’s office in Lagos recently, the Executive Commissioner Operations of SEC, Mr Dayo Obisan, stated that the investing public is being enlightened on the strategies to differentiate the genuine investments from the fake.
Mr Obisan said Ponzi schemes, which cut across countries, were giving regulators sleepless nights, assuring that the agency was ready to share knowledge with its Gambian counterpart on ways to effectively address the menace.
He also promised that the organisation would offer the necessary assistance in the country’s desire to develop more products in its bid to deepen its capital market.
According to him, SEC has put in place some measures to reduce the activities of illegal fund managers in the country.
“Just as you may have it in the Gambia, we also have our share of battles with Ponzi schemes, people trying to defraud others of their hard-earned money. They are everywhere.
“And this always happens when there is despair or lack of hope, it does not mean one nation is worse than the other. But the reason why we are regulators or an upholder of the law is to deter and minimise it. Here in Nigeria, we are working hard to ensure that they are not allowed to thrive,” he stated.
Mr Obisan told the Gambian visitors that the promoters of these unscrupulous schemes pose as operators in the capital market to defraud investors of their money with mouth-watering promises of return on investments.
“This has made it difficult for investors to differentiate between genuine and false investment opportunities. The activities of these Ponzi scheme promoters have posed a huge challenge to the commission. In combating them, we are working in collaboration with other agencies to nip their activities in the bud.
“Also, the commission is working tirelessly to ensure investors are aware of these nefarious activities through investor education programmes.
“We urge the Nigerians to partner with us in the fight against Ponzi schemes by reporting to the SEC anytime such activities are noticed,” he stated.
Mr Obisan disclosed that the capital market has a lot of products that appeal to all ages of people, adding, “we also organise outreaches that afford Nigerians the opportunity to learn how to invest in the Nigerian capital market, including Collective Investment Schemes being managed by professionals in addition to exposing participants to the activities of Ponzi schemes and how to identify them.
The Executive Commissioner disclosed that the SEC has a dual mandate to regulate and develop the Nigerian capital market that is fair and orderly and engenders investor confidence adding that a key aspect of the SEC’s market development role is enlightenment and investor education.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices slightly rose on Wednesday as attacks on ships in the Middle East continued and talks to end the Iran war hit an impasse.
Brent futures gained 7 cents to trade at $88.98 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude increased by 7 cents to $83.27 per barrel.
The US and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis reported separate attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday, two crucial export routes for Middle Eastern oil and gas in addition to the Suez Canal.
Reuters reported that there continued to be no discussions between Iran and the US to extend their ceasefire because, from Iran’s perspective, the deal had no start date and so there was nothing to extend.
Shipping data showed the number of vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz fell to a one-week low of eight on Tuesday. Before the war, 125 to 140 vessels passed through the crucial waterway each day.
The US military, meanwhile, said an American Navy MH-60 helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles to disable the steering gear of a Panama-flagged cargo ship.
The ship ignored repeated warnings to stop violating a naval blockade on Iranian ports, the US Central Command said.
Forecasters including the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the International Energy Administration (IEA) revised down their oil demand outlooks as US-Iran talks stall.
OPEC lowered its world oil demand growth forecast for 2026 to 580,000 barrels per day, it said in its monthly oil market report.
The International Energy Agency cut its 2026 demand projections and now expects a 1.6 million barrels per day contraction this year. However, the Paris-based agency is also predicting a 4.3 million barrels per day drop in supply this year, and an overall 2026 deficit of around 1.27 million barrels per day.
According to the IEA, Middle East oil flows briefly returned to pre-war levels in early July, with loadings reaching 20 million bpd, before falling to 12 million bpd later in the month. Middle East production remained 8.3 million barrels per day below pre-war levels in July.
The IEA cited the Hormuz shutdown, the US blockade of Iranian exports, attacks in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and reduced Kazakh CPC Blend exports among the forces keeping global supply below demand.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Nigeria slightly surpassed its quota set by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in July 2026.
In the month under review, the country produced about 1.57 million barrels of crude oil per day.
It was the third consecutive month Africa’s largest oil-producing nation was meeting its monthly quota, set to stabilise the price of the commodity on the global market by the oil cartel.
Data released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) on Wednesday showed that the 1.5 million barrels per day ceiling for Nigeria was surpassed last month.
The agency disclosed in a statement today that the country produced 1.505mbpd of crude oil and 0.17mbpd of condensate, bringing the combined daily production to 1.67mbpd.
In the month under review, the daily peak production of crude oil and condensate was 1.78mbpd, while the lowest daily production was 1.57mbpd.
Although Nigeria met its OPEC quota in the month of July, the statistics show that on a month-on-month basis, production fell by 4 per cent.
This was attributed to the decline in production due to operational challenges experienced at the Erha and Akpo fields, which impacted crude oil output during the period under review.
These disruptions constrained production volumes and contributed significantly to the overall reduction in national crude oil output.
Despite the challenges, production operations across most other producing assets remained relatively stable, with operators implementing measures aimed at maintaining production efficiency and minimising the impact of operational constraints, NUPRC stated.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The over 9 billion shares of Lasaco Assurance Plc issued to shareholders of the company via a rights issue have been listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
The equities were brought to Customs Street on Wednesday by the organisation, increasing its total issued and fully paid-up share capital.
Lasaco Assurance, which scaled the recapitalisation hurdle of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) in July 2026, raised fresh capital from the capital market to shore up its capital base.
The underwriting firm got about N18.5 billion from the rights issue, which involved the issuance of 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares at a unit price of N2.00.
The exercise was on the basis of five new ordinary shares for every existing six ordinary shares held as of the close of business on Friday, February 20, 2026.
Confirming the listing of the additional stocks of Lasaco Assurance today, the Head of Issuer Regulation Department of NGX RegCo, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai, announced in a circular that, “Trading licence holders are hereby notified that an additional 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of Lasaco Assurance Plc were today, Wednesday, August 12, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange Limited.
“The additional shares arose from the company’s rights issue of 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N2.00 per share on the basis of five new ordinary shares for every existing six ordinary shares held as of the close of business on Friday, February 20, 2026.
“With the listing of the additional 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid-up share capital of Lasaco Assurance Plc has now increased from 11,083,585,855 to 20,319,907,401 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.”
