SEC to Embark on Aggressive Sensitisation
By Patience Ikpeme
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to embark on an intensive sensitisation campaign aimed at reaching the majority of the populace, particularly the youth.
This initiative was revealed by the Director General of the SEC, Dr. Emomotimi Agama, during a meeting with the Association of Capital Market Academics of Nigeria (ACMAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.
Dr. Agama emphasized the importance of educating Nigerians, especially young people, about investing in the capital market, noting that it would lead to wealth creation and improved standards of living. He highlighted the SEC’s commitment to leveraging blockchain technology to engage young investors.
“I am a major enthusiast in blockchain,” Dr. Agama stated. “We will strive to popularise, propagate, and support it because that is the investment interest of that demographic, and we must follow them up in line with section 13A of the Investments and Securities Act (ISA), which gives us the power to regulate investments and securities business in Nigeria.”
Dr. Agama stressed the necessity of safeguarding investors, particularly the youth, as part of the SEC’s mandate. “In this space, the youths cannot be taken for granted. As much as we encourage innovation and are committed to developing the market, when we find out that Nigerians are at risk, we will not hesitate to move in because not moving in would mean we are shirking our responsibilities. We will do all it takes to protect investors.”
To further this outreach, Dr. Agama disclosed plans to establish a capital market radio station aimed at enlightening Nigerians about investment opportunities. “That capital market radio is one of our long-term projects. We intend to have a call-in programme where Nigerians can ask questions on investments and receive immediate responses. People have been lured with various types of investments mainly due to lack of information and greed spurred by poverty. People need to be educated on safe investments,” he stated.
With Nigeria’s population exceeding 200 million, Dr. Agama underscored the need for widespread educational efforts, including reaching students through various channels. “It is something I want to promote. We need it to reach out to the grassroots; we need to reach out to everybody in any way that we can as part of our efforts to deepen this market and also promote financial literacy. We must change the narratives. As academics, you have roles to play by telling people what the capital market does and how it can help them create wealth,” he said.
Dr. Agama also assured collaboration with ACMAN to revive quiz competitions among secondary schools, seeing this as a method to engage the grassroots.
Prof. Uche Uwaleke, President of ACMAN, acknowledged the SEC Management’s expertise and outlined the resilience and competitiveness of the Nigerian capital market. He noted the introduction of new asset classes and platforms, as well as improvements in market infrastructure despite existing challenges.
“Much as these are welcome developments, a few challenges have proved seemingly intractable. It goes without saying that the regulatory environment needs to be such that will encourage more company listings on the Exchanges as a way of increasing capital formation and the market’s contribution to GDP. Hence the primary segment of the market, which has not been very active, deserves more attention in much the same way as the non-interest segment of the capital market and the commodities trading ecosystem,” Prof. Uwaleke explained.
Prof. Uwaleke expressed confidence in the new SEC management team’s ability to leverage blockchain technology to advance the capital market, and emphasized the importance of capital market literacy for growing the retail investor base and enhancing market development.
“The SEC should champion the quick introduction of capital market studies in secondary schools and tertiary educational institutions in Nigeria and may also consider reviving the quiz competitions which used to be the practice some years ago. In this regard, the Commission can count on the collaboration of ACMAN, the veritable vehicle for capital market studies in Nigerian universities,” he concluded.
