Abuja – The Securities and Exchange Commission said it was set to roll out various initiatives to provide an enabling environment for commodities trading in the country.
This is contained in a statement by the Corporate Communications of SEC, made available to the media on Wednesday in Abuja
It said that the SEC Director-General, Mr Mounir Gwarzo, announced this in an address at a seminar organised by Africa Exchange Holdings (AFEX) on Commodity Trading and Risk Management in Abuja.
Gwarzo said, ” SEC is already reviewing the Warehouse Receipt Bill currently before the National Assembly and has assured that it will actively advocate its passage.
”This is in support of the Federal Government policy trust to encourage investments in the agricultural and solid minerals sectors.
”It is in a bid to ensure economic diversification and deepen capacity across the agricultural value chain.”
It explained that the 10-year capital market master plan currently implemented by the market was the blueprint for the growth and development of the market over the next decade.
It acknowledged commodities exchanges as critical for enabling investment diversification, risk management, price discovery and transactional efficiency.
It further said that the plan expressed a strong belief that in order to boost Nigeria’s competitiveness, a thriving commodities trading ecosystem must be developed.
Gwarzo said that, “we believe this can be achieved by building a supporting and functional ecosystem for commodities trading and Centres of Excellence in areas of comparative advantage.
” It can be achieved if we develop efficient commodities exchanges and trading platforms and sponsor legislation to ensure Nigeria’s crude oil sales are traded on local exchanges.”
According to him, as Nigeria pursues policies aimed at diversifying the economy and hastens socioeconomic development, it is increasingly clear that commodities exchanges could play crucial roles in actualising the objectives.
He noted that commodities exchanges played a central role in facilitating economic development, especially by helping farmers to enhance their marketing and risk management capacity.
He further said that considering the important role commodities exchanges would play in advancing Nigeria’s economic diversification goals, the capital market community had taken steps to prepare the stage for vibrant exchanges in the country.(NAN)