By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Lamido Yuguda, has said his team plans to improve the capital market’s contribution to economic growth through the implementation of the Capital Market Master Plan, which is currently under review.
This was said by Mr Yuguda during a meeting with management of Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSD) in Abuja this weekend.
He informed the group that PwC had completed the masterplan review. He expressed confidence that it will benefit the capital market and the country as a whole.
We are grateful for all the support we have received. The Master plan review was completed by PWC. We hope that the Capital Market Master Plan will help to deepen our market, improve capital markets contribution to economic growth, and increase the country’s development.
The SEC is better positioned to achieve these goals in these difficult times by reviewing the Capital Market Master Plan.
He stated that the FSD Africa-SEC Nigeria partnership is a great example of our mutual goals to create efficient and robust financial markets.
The DG also reiterated the agency’s determination to ensure that technology plays a significant role in ensuring that the nation’s capital markets reach their full potential. The commission expressed its delight with FSD Africa’s support for human resource transformation as well as information technology strategy.
FSD Africa has provided support in many areas to the commission and I can’t help but to thank them. We are very excited about this human resource transformation exercise. It will greatly assist the commission and will result in optimal productivity for staff.
It is admirable that you are looking at African finance markets and trying your best to improve productivity and development. We can assure that these investments were well placed and that we will continue working to earn your confidence in us.
The SEC DG revealed that the current management is also looking into other sources of support to ensure that the march towards the agency everyone hopes to see in the future is fast and efficient.
The commission has taken a number of steps to ensure that the support is not defeated. Since our inception, we have placed emphasis on the management of human resources. We want to continue fostering a culture that is excellence.
We appreciate your assistance with IT. We also explored domestic funding options for our IT infrastructure. This is a great achievement, he said.
FDS Africa’s Chief Executive Officer, Mike Napier, expressed his excitement at the SEC’s decision to launch the various initiatives to create a stronger capital market regulator that will translate into a well-regulated marketplace.
Mr Napier stated that a well-functioning capital marketplace can support inclusive economic growth by channelling long-term financing into infrastructure and large-scale projects that will create jobs and improve access markets. He also said that strengthening regulatory capacity within capital markets is essential for building investor confidence.
He said, “We are very happy that the challenges you have taken to ensure that your processes were better will ultimately lead to better regulators for the capital markets.”
FSD Africa is committed to innovation. We are supporting these projects because it is a long process but we know we will reach the end.
Mr Napier expressed satisfaction at the SEC’s willingness to embrace innovation in a bid for being a progressive regulator, pointing out that there aren’t many organizations across Africa that can do this, especially considering the lack of funds.
The most important would be when market players take note of the changes in SEC and the transformations that took place. He said that we are glad that you are on this journey and that it will be a successful one.
FSD Africa’s support is centered around the development capital markets master plans, conducting institution capacity assessments, and creating sustainable finance capacity such as green bonds. This allows markets to adapt to changing operating conditions.