Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr. Emomotimi Agama, has expressed concern over the low participation of Nigerians in the capital market despite their apparent appetite for risk, revealing that fewer than three million Nigerians invest in the market, while over 60 million engage in gambling daily, spending about $5.5 million every day.
Agama made this known while presenting a lead paper titled “Evaluating the Nigerian Capital Market Masterplan 2015–2025” at the annual conference of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers.
He noted that the statistics reveal “a paradox” — that Nigerians have a strong risk appetite but lack the trust or access to channel their funds into productive investments.
According to him, over $50 billion worth of cryptocurrency transactions passed through Nigeria between July 2023 and June 2024, underscoring the sophistication and risk tolerance of local investors that the traditional market has yet to attract.
The SEC boss lamented that fewer than four percent of Nigeria’s adult population are active capital market investors, describing the situation as a major obstacle to economic growth and capital formation.
Agama also highlighted that Nigeria’s market capitalisation-to-GDP ratio stands at around 30 percent, far below South Africa’s 320 percent, Malaysia’s 123 percent, and India’s 92 percent. He said the disparity underscores the urgent need to deepen financial inclusion and rebuild investor confidence.
Reflecting on the 10-year Capital Market Masterplan (CMMP) launched in 2015, Agama explained that it was designed to transform the capital market into a key driver of economic growth by mobilising long-term finance for infrastructure and enterprise development.
“As we stand at the sunset of that 10-year plan, our task is not ceremonial but diagnostic. We must ask: what did we achieve, where did we fall short, and what lessons must anchor our next decade of reforms?” he said.
He revealed that less than half of the 108 initiatives outlined in the CMMP were fully achieved, citing poor alignment with national development plans, weak stakeholder commitment, and inadequate tracking systems as key reasons for the shortfall.
While noting progress in areas such as Green Bonds, Sukuk, fintech integration, and non-interest finance, Agama observed that market liquidity remains concentrated in a few large-cap stocks like Airtel Africa, Dangote Cement, and MTN Nigeria.
He identified six major challenges for the next phase of capital market reform: low retail participation, market concentration, declining foreign inflows, underutilised pension assets, untapped diaspora capital, and a widening infrastructure financing gap.
“Nigeria’s $150 billion annual infrastructure deficit far exceeds the market’s contribution, with only N1.5 trillion approved in PPP bonds,” he said. “This shows a misalignment between financial innovation and national priorities.”
Agama called for a “reimagined SEC” that functions not just as a regulator but also as an enabler of private-sector-led growth, stressing that the next decade must prioritise trust-building, transparency, and inclusion.
“Vision without execution is inertia, and reform without measurement is aspiration without accountability,” he concluded.
