President Bola Tinubu has disclosed his willingness to enforce more reforms to galvanise growth in the Nigerian capital market, where the regulator now aims for a N300 trillion market size, following the approval of a new regulatory framework in May.
Mr Tinubu “promised to continue supporting the capital market and was ready to implement additional reforms to strengthen and expand the sector,” according to a Tuesday statement by his special adviser on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
“Nigeria’s markets must be a trusted engine of enterprise and prosperity. My government will continue to pursue reforms that unlock capital, protect investors, and drive innovation, so that our economy works for every Nigerian,” the president was quoted as saying during his state visit to Brazil.
Emomotimi Agama, the director-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and members of the Nigerian Exchange Group directors’ board were present during the president’s remarks, the press release stated.
Nigeria’s first overhaul of its capital market rules in eighteen years culminated in the endorsement of the Investments and Securities Act 2025 early in May. It confers higher oversight power on SEC, accepts investment contracts as securities and acknowledges virtual and digital assets and securities.
Until the revamp, cryptocurrency trading, for instance, was labelled an illegal market by the Central Bank of Nigeria for its bad name in exposing the naira to arbitrage practices.
That prompted a series of coordinated clampdowns on high-profile traders last year, on one occasion triggering the arrest of some top executives of Bitcoin, an incident that came close to wearing off the country’s diplomatic dealings with the US, which stepped in to demand the release of one of the arrestees.
Crypto trading in Africa’s biggest oil producer touched $59 billion between July 2023 and June 2024, according to Chainalysis Global Adoption Index, which put Nigeria in the second position on the worldwide adoption rate as of last October.
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Statista expects the country’s revenue from cryptocurrency to hit $2.4 billion this year, mirroring the potential big role digital assets are set to play in attaining the N300 trillion capital market size goal.
The presidential aide also restated Mr Tinubu’s recognition of the sharp surge in the market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange amid increased trading activity from both local and offshore investors since the start of his administration.
The market value of the stocks listed on the Nigerian bourse stood at N28.9 trillion on 29 May 2023, the day of the president’s inauguration, compared to N89.7 trillion when the market opened on Wednesday.
