By Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has expressed its readiness to commence capacity building for stakeholders and the public on commodities exchange to bridge the current knowledge gap.
SEC said this is part of the implementation of the report of its Technical Committee on Commodities Trading Ecosystem.
The acting Director General of SEC, Ms. Mary Uduk, stated this when a delegation of the Commodity Brokers Association of Nigeria (CBAN) led by its Registrar, Alhaji Saleh Kwaru, visited the Commission in Abuja.
Uduk, who was represented by the acting Executive Commissioner (Operations) of SEC, Mr Isyaku Tilde, said the Commodities Trading Ecosystem committee’s report, published on SEC’s website, contains no fewer than 40 recommendations on how to have an efficient commodities exchange.
“One of the recommendations is capacity building of stakeholders and the public on commodities exchange to bridge existing knowledge gap to ensure we reap the benefits of trading in commodities. The SEC is ready to partner with CBAN in that regard.
“The aim of SEC is to have an efficient commodities exchange because right now that sector of the capital market is dormant. Part of the issues that the committee is trying to address is capacity building and public enlightenment campaigns.
“I believe that part of the things CBAN is doing is capacity building, which is one area where we can collaborate going forward,” she said.
Earlier, the Registrar of CBAN, Kwaru, commended SEC for developing the Nigerian Capital Market Master Plan and for registering two private commodities exchanges to open up the market.
Kwaru said the association started 13 years ago and currently has 800 members certified by the Nigeria Commodities Exchange (NCX) to provide training.
He said: “We have been training people since 2009. We currently have 800 members, 15 of whom are SEC staff members. Today, we have close to 200 commodities brokers registered with NCX and with this, we are set to operate on the floor of the NCX as soon as its trading platform is ready.
“We are here to seek your support as the regulator, because we learnt there are other administrative processes that the brokers have to undergo to be licensed by SEC.”
He also solicited the commission’s support for CBAN’s push to secure presidential assent to the Chartered Institute of Commodity Brokers Association of Nigeria (CICBN).
