Arunma Oteh, Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has urged operators and experts in the nation’s capital market to introduce initiatives that would help explore opportunities in the market, in order to create wealth for ordinary Nigerians.
Speaking at the technical session of the fourth yearly capital market retreat in Abuja, Oteh, explained that the capital market is a major investment market for ordinary Nigerians, which according to her, would also serve as a catalytic tool for alleviating poverty in the country, if properly leveraged..
Describing high poverty level as one of the challenges that Nigerians have continued to grapple with despite efforts of government to reduce the incidence through policy reforms, the SEC boss said that decisions taken by the capital market experts on the Nigerian Capital Market Master Plan (2015-2025), which is one of the major issues for deliberations at the three-day forum, would offer a leeway on improving SME investors’ participation in the market on a sustainable basis.
She said: “Let me say that one of the challenges we face as a country is poverty. The government and all of us as stakeholders are concerned about this and will therefore support all initiatives that can address this problem.
“I hope that through the various issues we will discuss in this session, we can share experiences on how this forum can be used to truly create wealth for ordinary Nigerians.”
Citing the experiences in Malaysia, Kenya and other countries where the launching of the capital market master plans had immensely deepened the market capitalization and created opportunities for inclusive growth of their economies, she expressed the optimism that Nigeria’s 10-year capital market master plan would impact positively on the poor and micro enterprises, if all stakeholders remain committed to its implementation.
While commending the committee that was saddled with the responsibility of producing the draft master plan, the SEC boss explained that when finalized and adopted, it would reposition the Nigerian capital market as one of the best and biggest globally standardized bourses.