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Dr. Emomotimi Agama, Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has commended the NGX Group for its digital transformation initiative, describing it as a significant step towards achieving an innovative, efficient, and reliable capital market.
Agama noted that the initiative aligns with the industry’s master plan and demonstrates the regulator’s commitment to leveraging technology to attract a new generation of investors, enhance oversight, and create a world-class market.
He expressed optimism that the digitization platform will set a new standard for capital raising in Nigeria, supporting the government’s goal of achieving a $1 trillion economy.
The SEC DG made this remarks on Wednesday at the Lagos floor of the NGX during a press conference to intimate market stakeholders on the E-Trading platform for Right and Public Offerings to be launched soon.
Mr Temi Popoola, Group Managing Director of NGX Group, said that the platform marked an important moment in the evolution of the Nigerian capital market.
He added that with the support of SEC and other capital market stakeholders, the Exchange had developed an end-to-end digitised market infrastructure platform.
According to him, the platform will distribute financial products, particularly for public offers and rights issues, using an online platform that provides a level playing field for all participants as banks aimed to fulfil their revised minimum capital requirements via primary markets.
He also noted that NGX Group had committed to facilitating a seamless process to help them and other issuers meet their business objectives.
“This partnership between SEC and NGX Group represents a major advancement in the modernisation of Nigeria’s capital market infrastructure.
“It aims to improve efficiency, transparency and accessibility for all participants in the market.
“This innovative platform represents a significant advancement in digitising the capital raising process for issuers.
“I can assure the investing public that robust payment systems, comprehensive Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols and strong fraud, and risk management measures are fully integrated into the platform.
“The E-offering platform ensures that standard capital market intermediation is upheld without compromise,” he said.
Popoola noted that the e-offering platform, designed to increase retail engagement in the capital market would enhance financial inclusion.
According to him, it will also expand the available capital pool in line with the transformation goals specified in the updated capital market master plan.
The GCEO NGX Group added that stakeholders were expected to enjoy enhanced efficiency, streamlined due diligence capabilities, accessibility, faster information dissemination, and seamless compliance.
He, however, noted that it would be with regulatory requirements, among other benefits on the platform.
The managing director assured stockbrokers of their integration into the digital platform.
Popoola emphasised that the platform was designed to accommodate them and not aimed at dismissing their role in the chain of offering trading nor denying them of their financial benefits and bonuses.
In his remarks, the NGX Group Chairman, Dr Umaru Kwairanga, appreciated SEC for its support in digitalising the capital market while urging all stakeholders to embrace the E-offering initiative.
Kwairanga stated that although the initiative was coming at a period when banks were directed to recapitalise, noting that the NGX Group had been working on achieving this feat for the past six years.
He said: “It is important that we all embrace this initiative and remove paper applications from our market to bring more retail investors on board.
“We cannot continue to have less than 100,000 retail investors on our platform in a country with a population of more than 200 million people.”
