…to engage local governments to revamp municipal bonds
Nigeria’s Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) plans to engage local government authorities to encourage the issuance of municipal bonds to drive economic growth.
The Commission has approved nine securities issuances in 2024, totalling N1.228 trillion, which pointed towards “increased confidence in the market”.
Emomotimi Agama, director general, Securities and Exchange Commission stated this at the recent post-Capital Markets Committee (CMC) press conference in Lagos.
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This is part of the Commission’s plans to optimise the CMC’s role in driving market efficiency and transparency and unlocking its potential to improve the economy.
“If we can get to 7-4 local government, to get them to understand the value of the capital market, now that they are going to be having direct funding, the only way to progress those developments is via the capital market’s issuances of securities, to be able to develop the local governments.”
“This nation has 774 local governments, but only one local government has issued a bond. And that bond was used to build a market that is standing today and is still beneficial to the Nigerian populace,” he stated.
Agama said that the Commission has also approved all the offers it received from commercial banks amid the ongoing recapitalisation exercise.
“The capital market has become a very important tool in the achievement of the recapitalisation effort of the Central Bank of Nigeria for banks, and we are happy to state that we have approved all the offers received at the SEC within record time,” he said.
“In the fund management space, the Net Asset Value (NAV) of Registered Mutual Funds grew by 111.08 percent to N3.335 trillion, indicating a strong and sustainable growth,” he further said.
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He emphasized the role of the capital market to galvanise economic growth and provide capital for developing key areas of the economy.
“The capital market is there and there are great opportunities. We are having discussions with various agencies of government to galvanize capital in all of these areas.”
“The only place you can find long-term capital is the capital market. In developing the economy, which is a long-term project, you need the capital market to be there. We can’t be doing anything without the capital market,” he said.
