The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr Emomotimi Agama, has disclosed that formalising commodities and warehouse receipts of the capital market could unlock $500 billion in dormant agricultural and mineral assets.

Agama stated this at a national workshop of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers in Abuja on Tuesday. He said the move would transform them into tradable securities.

He noted that it would help the economy to diversify from the oil and gas industry and create wealth for the country. Agama explained that the Investments and Securities Act 2025 has empowered the SEC to take decisive actions to promote the sector.

“The Act sharpens the SEC’s regulatory focus, ensuring it operates with the precision and authority required to steward a rapidly expanding market”, he stated.

He added: “Today, I speak not just about the Investments and Securities Act (ISA) 2025 as a legislative milestone, but as a strategic blueprint to propel Nigeria into the league of top global economies.

“This act is not merely an update — it is a revolution. It dismantles legacy constraints, embeds global best practices, and positions our market as the engine room for national prosperity. The question before us is no longer if Nigeria can achieve a $1 trillion economy, but how soon —and the capital market, under this new Act, will be the accelerant”.

The SEC DG stressed that the Commission “now has explicit powers to shut down Ponzi schemes and prosecute offenders—ending the era of get-rich-quick scams that erode market confidence.”