By Ndubuisi Francis
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Africa have commenced a joint review of Nigeria’s 10-year Capital Market Master Plan (CMMP) to support the nation’s economic resilience amid new economic challenges including lower oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The review of the CMMP will see SEC Nigeria working with FSD Africa’s Regulator Support Programme to develop a revised 10-year CMMP to strengthen Nigeria’s capital market and capacity for capital mobilisation.
The CMMP provides a vision for Nigeria’s capital market as well as a roadmap with objectives to meet it.
The SEC said in a statement yesterday that the process will involve an assessment of progress made since the plan’s implementation to date and engaging with stakeholders for input.
This will result in the introduction of more stringent tools to measure the plan’s progress against objectives and the inclusion of new challenges, opportunities and risks related to the current environment into the plan.
The review of the CMMP is in response to changes in the economic and market circumstances, upon which the plan was originally hinged when it was launched in 2015, and it needs updating to match the current environment.
These include the effects of lower oil prices on Nigeria’s economy as well as a slowdown in economic activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The introduction of new initiatives and products will help to improve the liquidity and depth of Nigeria’s capital markets.
The statement said FSD Africa’s support was part of its ongoing multi-country programme to strengthen Africa’s capital markets, adding that the programme is centred on the development of capital markets master plans, conducting institutional capacity assessments and creating capacity for sustainable finance such as green bonds, helping markets to adapt to their operating climate.
Reacting to the development, SEC Director General, Lamido Yuguda, said: “The implementation of the Capital Market Master Plan will deepen our market and improve the capital market’s contribution to our economic growth and national development.
“To this end, the review of the Capital Market Master Plan better positions the SEC to deliver on these objectives in these very challenging times. The FSD Africa and SEC Nigeria’s laudable partnership underscores our mutual goals to build financial markets that are robust, efficient and above all inclusive.”
The Director, Capital Markets at FSD Africa, Evans Osano, said:
“This review will give market stakeholders in Nigeria a unique opportunity to not only take stock of the plan’s results so far, but also to grow and respond to previously unforeseen economic developments. As FSD Africa works to support and regulate financial markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, we are excited to be partnering with SEC Nigeria to enable them to strengthen the country’s capital markets during a time of immense upheaval.”
