Caption: From left, British Deputy High Commissioner Laure Beaufils, Acting Director General, Securities Exchange Commission, Mary Uduk, Director, Capital Markets Development FSD Africa, Evans Osano and Senior Private Sector Adviser, UK Department for International Development (DFID) Mr Richard Sandall during Signing of an agreement between SEC Nigeria and FSDAfrica in Lagos, Weekend.

In its bid to unlock capital and build investor confidence through improved regulations and compliance with international standards, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC Nigeria), will over the next three years period build its regulatory capacity, in partnership with FSD Africa, a UK-Aid funded non-profit company.
As part of the partnership, SEC Nigeria will participate in a flagship pan-African programme designed to strengthen the continent’s capital markets, becoming the first among its peers to partake.
FSD Africa, according to terms of the agreement signed by the parties, will provide funding to build the capacity of capital market regulators across Africa, providing world-class technical assistance, encouraging closer collaboration among regulators and conducting research to support the development of new policies and regulations.
Through the programme, the statement explained, FSD Africa will assist SEC Nigeria in several ways. First, it will fund an institutional capacity audit to identify strengths and areas of improvement in the SEC Nigeria’s operations as well as provide support to implement recommendations. It will also help in promoting fintech regulation. Lastly, it will play a role in encouraging greater collaboration and knowledge management sharing with other African capital market regulators.
The statement said Nigeria was chosen as a natural starting point to implement the new programme, being Africa’s largest economy, to be followed by Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Signing of the cooperation agreement was observed by the Deputy High Commissioner, British Deputy High Commission Lagos, Laure Beaufils. Other present were the heads of the two institutions; Ms. Mary Uduk, Acting Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria and Mark Napier, Director, FSD Africa.
Commenting, Deputy High Commissioner, British Deputy High Commission Lagos said: “Capital markets have an essential role to play to help unlock capital that can be invested in the real economy and that can contribute to job creation and inclusive growth. I am delighted that the SEC Nigeria and FSD Africa will be signing a new partnership agreement today. It is a testament to the importance we attach to this issue and to our commitment to deepen and broaden our trade and investment relationship with Nigeria. I very much look forward to working with the SEC on this in the future.”
Ms. Uduk expressed excitement of SEC Nigeria “about the cooperation with FSD Africa and the tremendous potential the various programs hold in complementing our efforts to enhance capacity and further strengthen our ability to regulate the capital market. This collaboration will no doubt contribute to the continued development of our market by facilitating access to capital by both the private and public sectors and enhance the competitiveness of the Nigerian capital market as a global investment destination.”
Mark Napier, Director, FSD Africa said: “Well-functioning capital markets can play a vital role in support of inclusive economic growth by channeling long term finance into infrastructure and other large-scale projects that create jobs and improve access to markets. Strengthening regulatory capacity in capital markets is an essential pre-condition for building investor confidence.”