SEC targets young people in aggressive sensitisation

In a bid to develop and deepen the capital market and attract more young people, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is to embark on aggressive sensitisation to reach majority of the populace in Nigeria, especially the youth.

This was disclosed by the director-general of the SEC, Dr Emomotimi Agama during a meeting with the Association of Capital Market Academics of Nigeria in Abuja yesterday.

Agama said the plan was to go all out to sensitise Nigerians, especially the youth population on investing in the capital market, which he said would lead to wealth creation and better standard of living for Nigerians.

He said the management would specifically pursue the aspect of block chain technology to accommodate the young minds in capital market investments.

“I am a major enthusiast in blockchain. We will strive to popularise, propagate and try to support it because that is the investment interest of that demography. And we must follow them up in line with section 13A of the ISA, which gives us the power to regulate investments and securities business in Nigeria.”

“In this space, the youth cannot be taken for granted. As much as we encourage innovation and are committed to developing the market, when we find out that Nigerians are at risk, we will not hesitate to move in because not moving in would mean that we are shirking in our responsibilities. We will do all it takes to protect investors,” the director-general said

Agama disclosed that the SEC was planning to set up a capital market radio with the aim of reaching Nigerians and enlightening them on the investment opportunities available in the capital market.

In his remarks, the president of the ACMAN, Prof Uche  Uwaleke, told SEC management that their jobs were well cut out as majority of them have been in the market for several years; and therefore, understand the challenges and what needs to be done as  articulated in the capital market master plan.

Prof Uwaleke said that despite all odds, the Nigerian capital market had remained resilient, and to a large extent, competitive. In the last few years, it has not only witnessed new asset classes but also new platforms and overall improvement in market infrastructure.

He said: “The regulatory environment needs to be such that it will encourage more company listings on the exchanges as a way of increasing capital formation and the market contribution to gross domestic product. Hence the primary segment of the market, which has not been very active, deserves more attention in the same way as the non-interest segment of the capital market and the commodities trading ecosystem.”