The Federal Government has unveiled the Nigerian Capital Market Master Plan (NCMMP 2.0) and the National Savings Scheme to drive a one trillion dollar market.
Unveiling the plans in Abuja on Monday, the Vice President Kashim Shettima said the initiatives would help place the capital market at the centre of infrastructure financing.
Shettima, represented by Sen. Ibrahim Hadejia, the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Office of the Vice President, said the plan represented how the country would finance its future.
He charged the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and various stakeholders involved in the implementation to drive the plan from inauguration to delivery.
He said the capital market had become a critical instrument to national economic policy.
Prof. Taiwo Oyedele, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, said the plan would focus on coordinated regulation, modern market infrastructure, new investment products, broader investor participation and stronger institutions.
Oyedele also said that the plan would target increasing equities market capitalisation from 33 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to at least 60 per cent.
He said the government was targeting an investment-grade credit rating within the next three years, adding that the ambition would require sustained reforms, improved market liquidity and reliable repatriation of foreign investors’ funds.
He added the new master plan would introduce measures to simplify investor on-boarding, strengthen custody arrangements, improve settlement systems and reduce barriers to cross-border investment.
Unveiling the National Savings Scheme, the minister said it was designed to provide Nigerians with regulated avenues to save and invest for education, housing, business development and retirement.
He said the initiative would offer accessible investment channels, transparent information, reasonable costs and a functional complaints process, with tax incentives provided within the law.
Oyedele regretted that many young Nigerians were putting their money into betting platforms, unregulated cryptocurrency and Ponzi schemes instead of regulated investment products.
He said the country had only about six million retail investors in a population exceeding 200 million, representing a relatively small proportion of the population.
He said the savings scheme would enable more Nigerians to invest in regulated funds and local businesses, including through small contributions made using mobile phones.
Also speaking, Dr Emomotimi Agama, the Director-General of the SEC said the plan would span from 2026 to 2036.
Agama said the plan would build on the foundation laid by the first master plan and grow the market from a baseline of about N250 trillion to N750 trillion by 2036.
According to him, our market must be broader in participation, richer in products, and stronger in its integrity and infrastructure
He said the commission would establish implementation structures to ensure that the master plan delivered measurable results.
He disclosed that the Project Steering Committee and the Capital Market Master Plan Implementation Committee would oversee the implementation of the plans.
”A regulator who speaks only of records is not doing his job. So permit me to be candid. Our market is growing in value; it is not yet growing deep enough in people, too few Nigerians own a share, a bond or a unit in a collective investment scheme.
”Much of our savings sits idle outside the formal system and is quietly eroded by inflation. Too many of our enterprises, our infrastructure projects and our states still look abroad or to the banks alone, for capital that ought to be raised from Nigerians, for Nigeria.
”The strength of any capital market rests on the savings of its people. Ours must rest on the savings of all of us. That is why we are here,” he said.
Sen. Osita Izunaso, Chairman of the House Committee on Capital Market and Institutions, commended the SEC for the initiatives.
Izunaso urged the federal government to ensure the listing of more companies to the Nigeria Exchange Group (NGX).
He noted that of all the companies in the country, only about 151 were listed in the NGX.
He commended the Dangote IPO which had given the country’s capital market international recognitions.
Solomon Bob, the Chairman of the House Committee on Capital Market, commended SEC, adding that the National Assembly would stand with the commission and operators to achieve the plan.
Bob said that the plan would help in economic prosperity and drive global competitiveness.
In the same vein, Paul Healey, the Head of the Private Sector and Green Growth, British High Commission, said the commission was proud to partner with the SEC to support the plan.
He said the plan would ensure that both domestic and international capital flowed into the market and promoted investment in the real economy.
Healey said the plan would give the country the opportunity to increase the size of its capital market and support the growth of its economy in line with the federal government’s ambitions.
Mr Victor Nkiri, a senior specialist in capital markets, financial sector deepening Africa (FSD Africa) said they had supported SEC to put together a master plan that was achievable for economic development in the country.
Truthng reports that the conference attracted capital market stakeholders from across the country.
