Mary Uduk, acting director-general, Securities and Exchange Commission says the exchange will partner with the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission to attract investors into the commodity exchange market

THE Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, NIPC, are to increase activities on commodity exchanges.  In a statement, SEC said that the partnership with the NIPC was aimed at attracting more investors to the capital market by revitalising the commodities exchange market, among other initiatives.

Mary Uduk, acting director-general, SEC, said the partnership was in line with the commitment to partner relevant government agencies and the private sector to attract more investments to the country in a bid to further boost the economy. “There are opportunities in the commodities market and we need to scale up participation in that regard to attract investors. We will require the collaboration of the NIPC in that regard to attract direct investors.

“Various opportunities abound in the capital market for both individuals and government and that is why we are exploring avenues to attract states to come to the market and raise funds for infrastructural projects. We are happy to partner organisations and agencies to make the market and the country richer and better,” she said.

On her part, Yewande Sadiku, executive secretary, NIPC, said the commission was committed to ensuring that the nation had the required business climate to attract both foreign investors and Nigerians in the Diaspora. She said the NIPC was visiting different states to explore investment opportunities and looking at some investments that were started by states but had become moribund.

She added that the NIPC would find ways to revitalise moribund investments. “There are many investment opportunities in the states and what we have done now is to design a platform for profiling such investment opportunities. A part of the strategy is to enlighten the state officials as it is important that the states are ready for the investors,” she said.

Sadiku noted that the mandate of the NIPC was to encourage investors to come, saying that was why incentives were being put in place to make it easier for them to come. “The work that we do is connected to the work of SEC; we encourage investors to come, while SEC is here to protect the investors and that is why we need to collaborate. We are happy to work with SEC to further grow our economy.”

– Jan. 25, 2019 @ 11:37 GMT |