FMDQ celebrates investors, others as markets show resilience

FMDQ Group Plc has celebrated its market participants as the fixed income, currency, and derivatives markets have continued to show resilience despite Nigeria’s slow economic growth.

The group said it considered it pertinent to recognise the contributions of its market participants, including its members, regulators, government agencies, local and foreign portfolio investors, corporates and a host of others, through the FMDQ GOLD Awards.

Instituted in 2018 to mark the 1st FMDQ Group Lustrum and now in its 5th year, the 2022 FMDQ GOLD Awards was commemorated in a grand ceremony, the first physical ceremony since the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, on November 11, 2022, in Lagos.

FMDQ Group, as a critical financial market infrastructure group in Nigeria, is cognisant of the important role the financial markets play in the stability and growth of any economy, according to a statement on Tuesday.

It said the event was headlined by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, as the special guest of honour, who was represented by Alexander Okoh, director-general of Bureau of Public Enterprises.

It brought together various stakeholders in the FMDQ markets and provided a platform to acknowledge and formally recognise the contributions of participants within the FMDQ markets for the one-year period covering October 2021 to September 2022.

Osibanjo, in his keynote address, said: “Over the years, FMDQ Group has evolved from an over-the-counter market to a full-fledged capital market holding company, with five wholly owned subsidiaries. This is a laudable achievement.

“It is pertinent to acknowledge that in order for the Nigerian economy to grow and ensure that businesses thrive, access to capital-raising channels and opportunities is a key prerequisite. I want to thank and commend FMDQ Group and its leadership, for the role you have played consistently in contributing towards filling this gap in Nigeria’s financial markets.”

The 2022 GOLD Awards, which were duly verified by EY Nigeria, were presented across four broad categories – Primary Market Awards, Secondary Market Awards, FMDQ Members’ & Clients’ Choice Awards (which afforded the FMDQ Exchange members and clients an opportunity to nominate and vote active participants across the fixed income and currencies markets) and FMDQ Leadership Awards. There were 29 awards and 30 award winners (including two joint winners).

Read also: Here’s how FMDQ Exchange markets performed in September

The awards presentation commenced with the FMDQ Leadership Awards Category, which saw the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, represented by Jumoke Oduwole, its executive secretary, receive the FMDQ Capital Market Catalyst Award for the introduction of over 160 key reforms over a period to improve the nation’s business environment, with the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 being the most impactful on the financial markets.

The award winners included MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, which bagged four awards in the Primary Market Category and one award in the Members’ & Clients’ Choice Awards Category; and Chapel Hill Denham Advisory Limited, which won two awards in the Primary Market Category, including the prestigious Primary Market Champion Award (FMDQ Capital Markets Securities Origination). Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc won two awards in the Secondary Market Category, including the highly coveted Secondary Market Champion Award (FMDQ Dealing Member of the Year).

The statement said one of the highlights of the ceremony was the farewell reception in honour of Okwu Joseph Nnanna, the retired group chairman of FMDQ Group, and 14 other FMDQ directors who retired between January 2018 and September 2022, for the roles they played in the growth and development of FMDQ and its markets.

Addressing the retired group chairman and directors, Jibril Aku, group vice chairman of FMDQ Group, said “Under your astute leadership, FMDQ evolved from an OTC Market into Africa’s first vertically integrated FMI group, with three SEC-registered capital market subsidiaries – FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited, FMDQ Clear Limited and FMDQ Depository Limited – thereby entrenching its presence across the financial market value chain (that is pre-trade, trade and post-trade).

“In this same period, two other subsidiaries, FMDQ Private Markets Limited and iQx Consult Limited, were operationalised to extend the private companies’ access to institutional investors, and to ensure operational efficiency and build resilience in the FMDQ Entities through technology and digitisation, respectively. I thank you all for your resilience and guidance through what has been a very challenging period for the markets, and the economy at large. Your innovative and patient leadership laid the foundations of the FMDQ Group we see today, and on which we build for the future.”

Nnanna, who served as the third chairman of FMDQ Group from April 2017 to May 2020, oversaw the growth of FMDQ from an organiser of the over-the-counter market to a full-fledged securities exchange and then Africa’s first vertically integrated FMI group, the statement said.

Nnanna, represented by Joseph Nnanna, a professor and chief economist, Development Bank of Nigeria Plc, said: “Serving as the chairman of FMDQ for the three succeeding years has been greatly fulfilling. It has been an honour to play my part in thrusting the Nigerian financial markets forward through FMDQ.

“I want to emphasise how much I appreciate the past chairmen and my colleagues on the FMDQ Group Board for their unrelenting support and tenacity in delivering FMDQ’s mandate.”

The statement said in commemoration of Nnanna’s epoch-making tenure, a special publication, the Agent of Change (Volume 3), FMDQ Group’s avenue for cataloguing significant milestones achieved during the term of a board chairman, was unveiled.

Kingsley Obiora, group chairman of FMDQ Group, represented by Bola Onadele. Koko, chief executive officer of FMDQ Group, appreciated all stakeholders “who have worked tirelessly to ensure continuous depth, liquidity, and diversity in the Nigerian financial markets.”

“Undoubtedly, your contributions, immense support, and unceasing willingness to collaborate, are a significant part of the FMDQ story. The Board of FMDQ Group remains committed to providing strategic direction, maintaining robust oversight over FMDQ Group’s affairs, and ensuring the Group continues to tow the right path in meeting its objectives,” he said.