By Goddy Egene
The FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange and S&P Dow Jones Indices, a global  provider of financial market indices have commenced co-branding of indices.
Both organizations had  in 2017 signed a cooperation agreement to create and launch co-branded fixed income indices.  The activation of that co-branding indices began last Friday with branding of S&P/FMDQ Nigeria Sovereign Bond Index. Â
According to the exchange, the S&P/FMDQ Nigeria Sovereign Bond Index, formerly branded as S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Index, tracks the performance of local currency denominated sovereign debt publicly issued by the government of Nigeria in its domestic market.
The Chief Executive Officer of S&P Dow Jones Indices, Alex Matturri said, “We are pleased to collaborate with FMDQ to create benchmarks for Nigeria’s domestic fixed income markets. This is S&P Dow Jones Indices’ first-ever agreement with an Africa-based securities exchange to offer fixed income indices. The successful transition of the S&P/FMDQ Nigeria Sovereign Bond Index marks the beginning of our joint efforts to establish a more transparent environment for market participants to gain insights into the Nigerian capital markets.â€
Also speaking, the Managing Director/CEO, FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange,  Mr. Bola Onadele. Koko said, “FMDQ, as part of its Global Competitiveness, Operational Excellence, Liquid & Diverse (GOLD) agenda for the Nigerian financial markets, is committed to developing and increasing the market accessibility for all stakeholders including the investors.
“We are delighted to collaborate with S&P Dow Jones Indices to further deepen the markets through these index-based solutions and measures. As we see more domestic and global demand, for diverse and innovative investment products, the S&P/FMDQ index family will critically serve to raise the global exposure of the Nigeria fixed income assets and represent an opportunity to increase trading flows to the Nigerian financial markets.â€