Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, on Tuesday in Abuja urged stakeholders in the Nigerian capital market on the need to grow domestic investments, given that it is much more enduring, unlike foreign investments looking for juicy returns.
Speaking at a meeting with members of the Capital Market Master Plan Implementation Council (CAMMIC), in Abuja, she urged them to fashions ways of growing domestic investments, as they are more enduring.
Foreign investments, she continued, are also good but very fluid, given that they are seeking best returns, hence the need for Nigerians to imbibe the savings culture so as to participate actively in the capital market as a means of growing the economy.
“We know we need foreign investors in our market, but most importantly we need to grow our domestic investors that are here to stay. The foreign investors come in and when anything happens, they quickly take their money and go away but our domestic investors will always be here with us,” Ahmed stressed.
The minister assured that the Federal Government is willing to set up a National Savings Committee that will recommend ways to mobilise savings capable of engendering economic growth and development.
While it is true that the current financial system is still skewed largely toward the banks, Mrs. Ahmed noted the “need to look at all the players and help solve the problems.
“We are open to setting up the working group so we can have a review, extract recommendations and get to work. Those that can be done immediately we will try to do them and the long term ones we can then plan to do them as we move along
Government, she continued, is concerned about the lingering volatility in the Nigerian capital market, and is ready to work with CAMMIC to ensure market stability.
“We are open to setting up the working group so we can have a review, extract recommendations and get to work. Those that can be done immediately we will try to do them and the long term ones we can then plan to do them as we move along
“We have worked assiduously to diversify away from our over dependence on oil and gas and the first sector the president is interested in is in the Agricultural sector. We know that we have not yet addressed the whole value chain and this can be driven if we have a very active commodities exchange market because our goods will be of high standards as required by industries in Nigeria and outside the country.
Speaking earlier, the Chairman of CAMMIC, Olutola Mobolurin, expressed need for government to pay more attention to the capital market being the centre of the economy.
Regulation of the market, he noted further, is paramount because the industry relies on investor confidence, following which he canvassed for the setting up of a National Savings Committee to drive the process of fund mobilization among Nigerians and work on a robust savings initiative that can drive the growth of the economy.
He listed some of the achievements of the council to include dematerialization, recapitalization, e-dividend mandate, financial literacy, National Savings Strategy, Streamlined Bond Issuance Progress, Access to alternative investments and Tax incentive programmes.
Other achievements, he listed, according to a statement by Efe Ebelo, Head, Corporate Communication Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria, include: enhancing commodities trading ecosystem, enhancing market liquidity and facilitate the establishment of a credit enhancement facility.
Mobolurin disclosed that CAMMIC will this year embark on a review of the Master Plan, conduct an impact assessment of programmes and initiatives like e-dividend, dematerialization, Direct Cash Settlement among others, expansion of commodities through registered exchanges as well as the introduction of derivatives and related instruments.
Also speaking, Acting Director General of the SEC, Ms. Mary Uduk said the Commission and the market are working to make the capital market attractive to pension funds to boost liquidity.

Photo Caption: From left to right, Acting Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms Mary Uduk; Chairman, Capital Market Master Plan Implementation Council, Olutola Mobolurin; and Minister of Finance, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed, during a Meeting between SEC Management and Minister of Finance in Abuja, Tuesday