Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima has said that the infrastructural deficit in the West African sub-region can be better tackled from inside and not through foreign borrowing alone, adding that the job of the capital market in Nigeria and across the region is cut out for it; and this extends to Africa at large.
Shettima stated this at the opening ceremony of the 3rd West Africa Capital Market Conference (WACMaC) with the theme: “Infrastructural Deficit and Sustainable Financing in an Integrated West African Capital Market” in Lagos.
The vice president who was represented by Mr. Tope Fasua, Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs in the Office of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, said the centrality of capital market to Nigeria’s development trajectory especially to the evolution of corporate sector, industries and most importantly infrastructural development cannot be over emphasised.
He further added that it is time of intense competition among nations and resources, and with advancement in technology, nations are able to interact with their products just as businesses have their fingers in billions of pockets the world over.
The Vice President said “Innovations has turned out more than ever to be both a potent advantage and disadvantage depending on one’s readiness to engage. In deed it is said that the best way to prepare for the future is to create it. Where are we on this? Whereas capital market development in any nation is not an easy task, much less its maintenance and sustainability”.
Shettima urged regulators and operators to be deliberate in addressing challenges the capital market presently faces by meeting young West Africans online, creating apps that they can relate with, using block chain where necessary to show transparency and to give them control that they seek.
He implored West Africa Regulators and Operators to think hard to find liquidity, growth and sustainability in their markets saying if stock exchanges in developed countries still thrive like New York, London, Amsterdam, Bombay and Egypt there is no reason why West African exchanges should not thrive.
In his opening remarks, Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Chairman of West Africa Securities Regulators Association, WASRA, Mr. Lamido Yuguda stated that the Conference (WACMaC) was conceived as a platform to address crucial issues affecting the orderly growth and development of regional and continental capital markets. The Conference is jointly hosted by WASRA, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West Africa Capital Market Integration Council (WACMIC), and the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI).
Yuguda said, “In 2010, the establishment of the West African Capital Market Integration Council (WACMIC) marked the inception of our collaborative effort to create a seamless and unified capital market within West Africa. Five years later, the formation of the West Africa Securities Regulators Association (WASRA) further solidified this commitment to harmonizing the regulatory environment for financial securities issuance and trading.
The DG disclosed that the integration project in the region is divided into three phases: Phase I facilitated trading between the stock exchanges in the sub-region, through the Sponsored Access model: Phase II which is currently underway, is set to harmonize and validate regulations for the trading and settlement of securities in West African capital markets through the Qualified West Africa Broker (QWAB) model. This phase with a target completion date of June 2024 is made possible through funding from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and is implemented by the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI).
While Phase III holds the promise of delivering a fully integrated market and the establishment of the West Africa Securities Market, which will reflect securities listed on all member exchanges. This phase is expected to deepen West African capital markets, attract institutional and retail investors across member countries, and broaden the range of capital market instruments and issuances for funding private and public enterprises and infrastructure in the region.
In an address, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said the co-operation between the various bodies fortifies the bedrock of the W/African region fostering a collaborative spirit among member states.
He said governments are actively aware of the imperatives of addressing infrastructure deficit and sustainable financing in the region. He said the theme of the conference is especially apt for the moment as across the sub region, modern infrastructure such as roads, rails, ports, fibre optics connectivity power etc. are largely inadequate.
“Only innovative and creative financing especially the products coming out of the capital market that can ease this gap, I see you as strategic partners with us and indeed we can build that ecosystem that we all crave for. We believe there are many ways the West African capital market can help in this regard” the Governor added.
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