Fadahunsi: Nigeria’s Capital Market Needs More Depth, Trust, Awareness
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, AVA Capital Plc, Mr. Kayode Fadahunsi, in this conversation with Kayode Tokede, stresses that Nigerian capital needs greater depth, emphasising that trust is one of the ingredients to deepen the market and create opportunities. He also speaks on the listing of AVA Capital on the Nigerian Exchange and other economic issues. Excerpts:
What is your view of the Nigerian capital market in terms of driving economic growth?
I believe Nigeria’s capital market needs greater depth, but above all, it needs trust. A strong capital market depends on confidence. Investors need confidence that their capital is being allocated responsibly. Businesses need confidence that they can access long-term funding. And the wider public needs confidence that the institutions operating within the market are disciplined, transparent and accountable. One of the most important responsibilities of market participants is therefore, to connect capital to credible and productive opportunities. If capital is consistently misallocated or investors do not believe that institutions are acting responsibly, confidence in the market is weakened.
There is also a significant need for greater financial education and investor awareness. Market participation cannot deepen meaningfully if people do not understand the opportunities available to them, the risks involved and the mechanisms through which they can participate. Luckily for us at AVA Capital, we have been able to connect capital to opportunities in some critical sectors. Investment banks and other financial institutions also have an important role to play beyond executing transactions.
They can help businesses access the capital required to grow, professionalize their operations and prepare for larger markets. This is particularly important for businesses with strong potential that may lack access to appropriate long-term financing. When a viable business is able to access capital and grow successfully, the impact extends beyond that individual transaction. It can lead to greater employment, increased production, stronger businesses and broader economic activity.
That is why I believe financial institutions should see themselves not simply as intermediaries in transactions, but as institutions with a responsibility to contribute to the productive development of the economy. The capital market should ultimately be one of the mechanisms through which Nigeria converts savings into productive investment and productive investment into sustainable economic growth.
How can stakeholders further drive retail investors in Nigerian markets ?
I am excited that we are where we are today. We have seen more investor education by capital market stakeholders. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria had introduced regulations for digital assets, recognising them as securities under the Investment. The SEC’s approach extends existing traditional securities law to digital assets, similar to the approach taken by regulators in developed countries. The SEC’s rules cover various operations of digital assets, including issuance, offering platforms, custody, and service providers.
Why should people trust a financial institution with their capital?
People cannot trust a financial institution simply because it asks them to. Trust has to be earned. For me, a financial institution earns trust through competence, discipline, transparency and consistency. When individuals or institutions entrust you with their capital, they are placing something of significant value in your care. That creates a responsibility to manage that capital prudently, communicate clearly and always operate within a strong framework of governance and accountability.
There is also an important issue of financial awareness in Nigeria. Many people still primarily associate financial institutions with storing money rather than intentionally growing and preserving wealth over time. As an industry, we have a responsibility to help people better understand the opportunities available to them and the risks that come with different investment decisions. Financial institutions should therefore do more than provide products.
They should help clients make informed decisions and participate meaningfully in the growth opportunities available within the economy. The Nigerian capital market and its regulatory infrastructure have evolved significantly over time, but confidence in any market ultimately depends on the quality of the institutions and individuals operating within it. That is why trust cannot be built through marketing alone. It is built over time through responsible behavior, good governance, transparency and a consistent record of doing what you say you will do. At AVA Capital, that is the standard we aspire to meet.
What has actually prevented businesses to access long term capital needed to expand and further drive economic growth?
It is all about meeting the requirements of accessing. The requirements are so simple, but you know when you ask people to fit themselves into it, you will start hearing all sorts of stories. The market is able to require truth, transparency. The market can cope with the truth when it is said exactly the way it is. What it cannot cope with is a lie. People don’t want you to tell them beautiful stories. Regulators and operators want you to tell them the story and be able to back it up. So the greatest challenge is structuring it.
The first basic foundation of it is proper bookkeeping. The second foundation is having proper governance. All the listed companies have submitted themselves to the basic governance rule. So after you do that, then you now commit to tell people that this is my direction.
Going to two months, AVA Capital was listed by Introduction on NGX. What has changed since becoming a quoted company?
A lot has changed since we got listed on the NGX. We were listed on July 31, 2026 and we are close to two months on the trading floor of the Exchange. In that period, the initial frenzy for newly quoted companies had happened and the stock went up about N13 per share at one point. The stock dropped to N8 per share, till it closed recently at above N5 per share.
People keep asking about the swing in price and my answer has been if you look at the history of all companies on the Exchange, you will see the movement of the share price. It achieves new levels as we continue to release credible results to the investing public. We are committed to periodic financials. Investors will get all information from us on the things we are doing and we will make them available to the public. We’ll have that first opportunity at the end of this quarter, September 30th . We will release those results before the deadline set by the Exchange, and the results will be good. We are working very hard to ensure that we reward our investors.
Our focus now is on the general philosophy of the company. Our job is not as complicated as it looks. Our job is to connect opportunities to capital. We have about four ways to do that. We have a way of doing it in the capital market through investment banking. We have a way to do it on the trustee side. We have a way to do it on the asset management side, and we have a way to do it on the securities trading side.
The job of the capital market is to give long-term capital to opportunities as it appears within an economy. About 1.2 billion people in Africa and 250 million of those people are in Nigeria. Those are huge figures. Those are huge opportunities: feeding, fashion, entertainment, construction, among other sectors. And no matter how brilliant your opportunity is, if it’s not connected to capital, there’s absolutely nothing you can do.
And interestingly, I will tell you, you know, it is not the brilliance of the opportunity that connects it to capital. It is the ability to structure, put together your opportunity in such a way that it will attract the required capital that you need to attract. So we are listed and there are so many opportunities to be connected to capital. We want to be here for many years, just like people who run this business for years, like the J.P. Morgans and The Goldman Sachs of this world are still here. You first start when you start a business like this. Where do you start from? You start from catering to opportunities of individuals. Then you move. You start catering to the opportunities of corporations. Then, if you are very lucky, you start catering to the opportunities of nations.
When you start catering to the opportunities of nations, then you have, you know, worked hard on the scale of, you know, getting capital to opportunity because nations need capital.There are many institutional asset managers globally that manage nations. In fact, the real reason why we listed, and I think I mentioned, is that you cannot tell people to structure and position for opportunity without structuring and showing them how to position.
How has your operations changed transforming into a publicly quoted company?
You know, listing a company is not radically supposed to change anything that is not already foreseen, or you have already forecasted in your strategy. But listing a company will give you increased visibility because every evening there are multiple media channels that carry reports on you.
There is a lot of face time on you, and because of that, it has also increased tremendously patronage.
We forecasted that that will happen when we were planning this, and we forecasted that we would have opportunities in the retail space and since we forecasted that, we have started tremendous work on our digital transformation and I can tell you that all digital interface to reach us on the web, app,and even our customer service, putting you know ourselves and the interface for you to reach us seamlessly.
Now that AVA Capital has become a publicly listed company, what do you intend to build next?
I have always believed that Nigeria and Africa are not short of opportunities. The greater challenge is ensuring that capital can consistently find those opportunities and support them over the long term. There is a growing recognition across the continent that the challenge is not simply the availability of capital. Africa also needs stronger institutions and more efficient mechanisms for connecting capital to productive opportunities. That is a challenge that speaks directly to why AVA exists. From the beginning, we have been intentional about building a bridge between capital and opportunity. For us, that is more than a business proposition; it is a philosophy.
Capital should not simply be stored. When properly deployed, it should help businesses grow, create employment, build infrastructure and ultimately contribute to broader economic development. Our decision to become a publicly listed company was also part of that philosophy.
We saw listing not simply as a financing event, but as an institutional milestone. I believe that organizations entrusted with raising capital and managing wealth should be open to a high level of scrutiny and accountability. When you are entrusted with other people’s capital, transparency and sound governance cannot be optional. Becoming a public company brings greater responsibilities, and we welcome those responsibilities because they are consistent with the kind of institution we want to build. What comes next for AVA is therefore not simply growth for growth’s sake. We want to build a stronger and more enduring financial institution, one that consistently connects capital with credible opportunities, earns the confidence of its stakeholders and creates value that can outlast economic cycles. Ultimately, I want AVA to become an institution that individuals, businesses and investors think of when they are considering how to build, preserve and grow long-term value.
What are the things coming next at AVA Capital?
The next phase of AVA’s growth is about building depth, resilience and scale. We have established strategic ambitions for the years ahead, but the important question is not simply how large we want to become. It is what kind of institution we need to build in order to create sustainable value. Our priorities are centered around strengthening recurring income, deepening client relationships, investing in talent and technology, broadening our investment and financial-services offerings, and deploying capital efficiently.I believe sustainable growth comes from building strong relationships with clients and consistently solving meaningful problems for them. Technology will help us improve the way we serve those clients, while continued investment in talent will ensure that the institution retains the expertise and discipline required to grow responsibly.
We also intend to continue strengthening our position across Nigeria’s capital markets.
AVA has built a meaningful presence in the transaction-advisory space, including its position in the FMDQ Private Markets Noting Transaction Sponsor League Table. Our objective is not simply to hold a ranking for its own sake, but to build the capabilities and transaction pipeline that will allow us to remain relevant and increasingly competitive over the long term. Across our businesses, we want to expand our reach, deepen our participation in relevant areas of the capital market and build a more diversified and resilient income base. The ultimate objective is straightforward: to build an institution that grows because it is useful, trusted and capable—not simply because it is pursuing size.
What was building AVA Capital taught you and how has it sharpened your leadership skills?
One of the most important lessons building AVA has taught me is that no enduring institution is built by one person. AVA’s growth has been shaped by a diverse group of dedicated and intelligent people whose experience cuts across business, law, finance, risk management, people management and other disciplines.
As a leader, I have learnt the importance of listening. Having a clear vision is important, but leadership is not about surrounding yourself with people who simply agree with you. Some of the best decisions are made when different perspectives are encouraged and tested against one another. I have learnt to rely on the expertise of people around me while ensuring that our decisions remain connected to a shared vision of what we are trying to build.
One of the things that has also remained with me throughout my career is the realization that there is significant capital in Nigeria. During the banking-sector recapitalization exercise of 2004, I was particularly struck by the parts of the country from which capital emerged. It reinforced something important for me: the challenge is not always whether capital exists. The challenge is whether we have institutions that can earn people’s trust, mobilize that capital and connect it to productive opportunities. That lesson remains relevant today.
Nigeria is going through a significant period of economic adjustment and change. I believe periods like this create both uncertainty and opportunity. The responsibility of capital-market participants is to help channel that opportunity into productive investment and sustainable economic activity.
Personally, success at this stage is less about what any individual achieves and more about what can continue to exist and create value beyond that individual. I want AVA to be known as an enduring institution. An institution that people trust, one that develops strong professionals, one that connects capital to meaningful opportunities and one that consistently creates sustainable value. If, in 10 or 20 years, AVA is regarded as a trusted partner to individuals and institutions seeking to build and preserve long-term value, and as an institution that contributed meaningfully to the development of Nigeria’s capital markets, I would consider that a meaningful legacy.
