By Suliyat Tella
The Global Investment Advisory (GIA) community, in collaboration with the Nigeria Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has unveiled a Digital Asset Markets Strategy for Nigeria.
The strategic roadmap, unveiled at the Digital Asset Markets Strategy Masterclass held at the SEC office in Lagos on Friday, is aimed at making the younger generation of Nigerians and those in the diaspora see the feasibility of buying cryptocurrency in naira and grow their portfolio.
GIA is a community of institutional financial investors, investment banks, asset management firms and high net-worth sophisticated accredited investors.
Some notable members of the institutional investors’ community include MERISTEM Group, CardinalStone, Constant Capital, Anabel Capital and VFD Group.
Presenting the strategic framework, Global Investment Advisor and Convener, Digital Asset Markets Strategy Masterclass, Dr. Nicky Okoye, said Nigeria’s Investment and Securities Act 2025 has integrated the digital asset market into the Nigerian Capital with SEC as the assigned regulator. He added that the ISA Act 2025 authorises cryptocurrencies in Nigeria, as well as provides a strong legal basis for the issuance of tokens, which are the key digital assets that will be traded and exchanged between investors within our own digital asset markets ecosystem in Nigeria.
Providing the Nigerian financial and capital market industry with a detailed overview of what the digital asset markets will look like for Nigeria in the months and years to come, Okoye said GIA will be building a community of capital asset managers and aggregators in Nigeria that will be fully dedicated to the adoption and expansion of the digital asset markets across Nigeria.
“The strategy includes training of aggregators, 1,000 young Nigerians who will identify, educate and convert Nigerian prospects for the digital asset market.
It will also lure 25,000 Nigerians in the diaspora to invest $25,000 in the Nigerian digital asset markets. As part of the strategy, we will also take a selection of its members on an international digital asset markets roadshow to understudy cryptocurrency and digital asset exchanges to New York, Singapore, Geneva and other strategic global markets. The long term benefit of this is that it will help strengthen the naira and move our currency to the positive side,” Okoye said.
In his keynote address, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said the Digital Asset Markets Strategy will support the achievement of the $22 billion digital economy projection of 2029.
The governor, represented by the Commissioner for Finance, Abayomi Oluyomi, said: “Nigeria is positioned to lead digital transformation but needs legislation and policies that guide the industry. SEC and GIA are here to help the digital asset markets innovation with clear guidelines that protect investors, ensure the market is competitive and secured. The collaboration with asset managers, advisers and regulators will provide insights into the market and guide investors on how to leverage the immense opportunities.”
Speaking on the legislative support for the Nigerian Digital Asset Markets, Chairman, Senate Committee on Capital Market, Senator Osita Izunaso, pledged that the committee would continue to work with the GIA community to identify new areas of legislative adjustment or amendments that will further deepen the digital asset markets and the capital markets as a whole in Nigeria.
