AfDB, SEC seal $460,000 deal on capacity building, market devt

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group have sealed a $460,000 agreement for a grant on market surveillance system project.

The deal is expected to modernise Nigeria’s capital market and reposition it to support private sector investment drive.

According to SEC, the grant is to finance capacity building and other technical support for capital market development under the ‘Nigeria Securities Market Surveillance System Project’.

Speaking at the ceremony, Director General, AfDB, Mr. Lamin Barrow, said the grant from the Capital Markets Development Trust Fund (CMDTF) – a multi-donor trust fund administered by the African Development Bank and supported by the Ministry of Finance of Luxembourg and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Cooperation of the Netherlands – will support the acquisition, installation and deployment of a real-time automated securities market surveillance system in the Nigerian capital market.

He said: “Today’s ceremony marks yet another important milestone in our partnership and efforts to modernise Nigeria’s capital market and ensure it is well positioned to support economic transformation driven by private sector investment.

“The introduction of a surveillance system will enhance oversight over securities trading across all existing and future trading platforms and all tradable securities and products by SEC. It will, therefore, preserve securities market integrity, boost investor confidence and enhance financial inclusion, among other expected outcomes.”

He said to ensure sound implementation and sustainability, the design of the technical assistance project embeds training activities to strengthen the capacity of users of the securities market surveillance system, preparation of relevant operational manuals, workflow processing and document management for the surveillance solution.

He said the bank’s support for the project derives from the Nigerian government’s efforts to promote development of a competitive, deep and liquid capital market, supported by an enabling regulatory environment.

He added: “The technical assistance support builds on SEC’s initiatives to strengthen the supervisory and regulatory framework as well as enhance market integrity and transparency under the Nigeria Capital Markets Development Master Plan 2015-2025, with a view to position Nigeria as an attractive destination for portfolio investments.

“It also aligns with the Bank’s Country Strategy Paper for Nigeria 2020-2024, which recognises the importance of a sound, well-regulated, resilient, effectively functioning and globally competitive financial market in Nigeria for sustainable growth and development.”