Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed has said she is dedicated to strengthening Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to reposition the nation’s capital market to be at par with its peers globally.
The minister made the declaration in Abuja Monday, when she received the Revised Nigerian Capital Market Master Plan (2021-2025).
She said the review of the master plan underscores the fact that capital market growth aligns with the current administration’s unhinged commitment to deepening and re-positioning the country’s financial markets as a key anchor to achieving a private sector led development of the economy as encapsulated in the National Development Plan objectives.
The Capital Market Master Plan has been implemented under Ahmed’s leadership, and she added that the plan symbolizes the goals of the whole capital market community, which are centered on advancing measures aimed at expanding and deepening the market.
She said the initiatives are being implemented with the ultimate goal of accelerating the emergence of Nigeria as a top 20 global economy by the year 2025.
The plan was submitted to the minister by the Capital Market master plan implementation council led director-general of SEC, Lamido Yuguda.
“Our capital market is growing and evolving. To sustain this growth and eventually transform to a world class capital market, transparency and investor confidence is key.
“Investor confidence will accelerate the growth of our market and increase both domestic and foreign investor participation. To this end, we will continue to support and strengthen the regulator to effectively do its job of regulating and developing the capital market.
“I see the capital market as an important driver of our economic growth objectives and we will continue to support efforts to position our market where it deserves to be – a capital market that will broaden access to economic prosperity by enabling the emergence of financially responsible citizens, accelerate wealth creation and wealth distribution, provide capital to small and medium scale enterprises, and catalyze housing finance,” she stated.
According to Yuguda, assumptions, goals, and objectives of the Plan should be reviewed on a regular basis, in order to better match it with the most recent developments in the global financial system.
He stated that as part of the assessment, the Commission began a thorough evaluation of the Plan, led by PriceWaterHouseCoopers and funded by Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSDA).
He stated that the main goal of the Master Plan review is to create an updated version of the document with the main goals of: reviewing and updating the CMMP’s assumptions and vision; developing targets for the various thematic areas of the CMMP; and engaging stakeholders on the current state of market development and opportunities for additional capital growth.
In addition to providing the SEC and market participants with clarity on the vision of the capital market and the necessary road map, he claimed that the revised master plan is intended to chart the strategic position and future direction of the capital markets and to facilitate a business environment that is conducive to encouraging innovation, investment, growth, and the expansion of economic and employment opportunities in our nation.
