The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has restated its commitment to fostering collaboration that would help to reposition the commodities exchanges as vital drivers of economic growth, job creation, poverty alleviation and national development.

According to the Director General of the SEC, Dr Emomotimi Agama, the commission would continue to adapt in key areas such as capacity building, infrastructure development and partnership with stakeholders to improve and sustain commodities markets.

Agama also assured stakeholders that the commission would continue to pursue innovative measures to ensure the sustainability of commodities exchanges in Nigeria.

The DG said: “Our role in sustaining commodities exchanges in Nigeria cannot be overlooked because at the heart of these exchanges’ functionality is the SEC whose regulatory oversight plays a pivotal role in ensuring their sustainability and credibility.

“Commodities exchanges in Nigeria facilitate the buying and selling of commodities in a structured and transparent environment. They provide farmers, traders, and investors with standardised contracts, enabling market efficiency and mitigating risks. These exchanges also play a vital role in addressing post-harvest losses, improving access to markets, and stabilising commodity prices.”

Agama noted that the vision of SEC is to provide an enabling environment, to protect investors, and to create a developmental strategy that will bring the commodities market into an enviable state.

“Over the years, the SEC has been deliberate about it and one of the things it did about 10 years back is to set up the commodities ecosystem technical committee, which is an upshot from the capital market master plan.

“Nigeria is a commodity space. Every state of this country has commodities in commercial quantities, so we are working to build that ecosystem in such a way that we can meet all of the blocks within the value chain to achieve economic development, prosperity and a level playing field for every practitioner in this space,” he said.

Agama stated that Nigeria is a commodity-based economy, saying stakeholders must tap into the opportunities available in the space to bolster the economy.

He assured that the SEC being the regulator of the commodities space will collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment to organize the second International Commodities Conference later in the year.