Nigeria, Morocco partner on securities market growth

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigeria has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with its Moroccan counterpart, Autorite Marocaine Du Marche Des Capitaux (AMMC) to grow their respective securities market.

SEC, who confirmed this in a statement issued on the commission’s website, noted that the MoU was signed on the sidelines of the Nigerian- Moroccan bilateral talks marked with the visit of His Majesty, King Mohammed VI of Morocco.

It is also expected to serve as a platform for regulatory cooperation and information sharing between the two capital market regulators.

According to SEC, “The SEC said the MoU “Is a first step towards achieving an effective cross border market policing between the two jurisdictions and enhanced market development through leveraging mutual comparative advantages. The bilateral discussions covered a wide range of issues aimed towards deepening the mutual relationship between the two Countries. These included agriculture, aviation, immigration, banking, capital markets and the extractive industries, among others.”

The Nigerian delegation was led by President Mohammadu Buhari with Director General, SEC, Mounir Gwarzo, signing the MoU on behalf of the country while CEO, AMMC, Ms. Nezha Hayat, represented the Kingdom of Morocco.

As members of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) which holds cooperation and integration as a cardinal objective, Nigeria and Morocco ordinarily has a platform to enter into bilateral agreements such as this as provided in the 38 IOSCO principles.

Experts said this shows a high premium placed on the importance of the capital market to the economic growth and prosperity of the two nations.

For Nigeria, experts believe its a welcome development as it presents an opportunity to leverage the progress achieved in the Moroccan market to enhance, especially, the delivery of a few of the objectives of the 10 – year Capital Market Master plan.

The SEC Nigeria will also be understudying the advancements achieved by Morocco in growing the green capital markets which was the fulcrum of the COP22 conference recently held in Marrakech which focused on fostering green capital markets in emerging economies.

The signing of the MoU signals a strengthened cooperation framework between Nigeria and Morocco in areas of common interests as it will encourage cross investments in the respective capital markets.

Nigeria had earlier entered into such bilateral agreements with several other jurisdictions such as; Angola, China, Ghana, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.