Capital market can finance Nigeria’s $50b infrastructural deficit, says SEC DG

The Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr. Emomotimi Agama, said the capital market instruments offer a compelling alternative to finance Nigeria’s $50 billion yearly infrastructure deficit.

He said the market has available instruments to support long-term projects with the right awareness, considering its contributions in mobilising capital to finance projects across various sectors of the economy.

The SEC boss said this while moderating a panel at a stakeholders’ programme themed, ‘Financing the future in Nigeria’, organised by the International Financing Corporation (IFC) and Milken Institute in Lagos at the weekend.

Nigeria needs an investment of $2.3 trillion over the next 30 years to close its public infrastructure gap, according to the Reviewed National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan.

“We have the capacity. Debt regarding the capital market in Nigeria has not been explored. It is because people do not know. The capital market is the barometer of any economy.

“Nigeria can fund the capital market and mainstream the capital market to the national economy. Our infrastructure needs are huge, in every aspect. Considering that we have 36 states in the country and the FCT… So, we are looking beyond $50 billion to be able to deal with this infrastructure deficit.

“President Bola Tinubu has asked us to grow a $1 trillion economy. That is possible; it is possible in the capital market. It is possible via the mining sector, the oil and gas industry, construction, housing and development. It is possible in every way,” he said.

Director of Treasury Capital Market and Investments at IFC, Tom Ceusters, said Nigeria being a critical partner, needs to educate mid-level regulators and market infrastructure participants.

“So far, we have educated 224 alumni from 56 countries, including 22 in Nigeria,” he said. Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Milken Institute, John Hunter, said the regulators need to do more to drive finance for infrastructure deficits.

“They must make the market attractive; look at all the basic elements of ease of doing business. Africa has the bargaining power. The huge population is an asset. They have a good story to tell, unlike the perception out there,” he said.