Research crucial for capital market growth, development – SEC

Dr Lamido Yuguda, the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on Tuesday said research was critical for growth and development of Nigeria’s capital market.

Yuguda said this at a virtual symposium organised by the Nigerian Capital Market Institute (NCMI) and the Capital Market Academics of Nigeria (CMAN) in Abuja.

He said research was needed in investment performance management, efficiency of tax policies, securitisation of various financial and other physical assets, among others, to develop the market.

Yuguda called on capital market academics to collaborate with stakeholders in the industry to address the market challenges to meet set targets.

“We urge CMAN to continue to encourage its members to conduct market-based and empirical research in the capital market such that practical recommendations may serve as policy inputs to the regulators and other stakeholders.

“This symposium will go a long way to engender interest in capital market research among the academia, and deepen the knowledge of the capital market in Nigerian institutions.

“It will also raise the bar in capital market literacy,” he said.

He assured stakeholders that the commission was committed to developing and enforcing relevant rules and regulations that would further develop and deepen the market.

Uche Uwaleke, Professor of Capital Market and the President of CMAN, lamented that the country’s capital market was not where it should be.

Uwaleke said that tangible collaboration with the academia would be a game changer in efforts geared toward the development of the market.

He recommended the introduction of capital market programmes in universities through the National Universities’ Commission and the development of effective dialogue with academics involved in capital market research.

The Managing Director of NCMI, Mr Ismaila Ville, said the institute was set up as a training arm of SEC to provide capital market education for its staff and the capital market community.

Mr Oscar Onyema, the Chief Executive Officer, the Nigerian Stock Exchange, said the symposium would bridge the knowledge gap that existed in the country’s capital market.

Onyema said the partnership between the market and the academia would bring enhanced investments to create an engine for innovations and economic growth.

“World-class research universities are at the forefront of pioneering such partnerships. I am happy that the academia in Nigeria are beginning to look in this partnership direction,” he said.

The Group Managing Director of the FMDQ, Mr Bola Onadele, stressed the need for the capital market to support the academia first before expecting the assistance in return.

Mrs Toyin Sanni, the Chief Executive Officer, Emerging Africa Capital Group, said that the academia had a huge role to play in the development of the capital market.

Sanni called for an improved capital market education and literacy programme to help the public to understand investment decisions and risks associated with it.

“There is capacity gap and we operators are feeling it. We need the support of the academia in this,” she said.

It was reported that the symposium was themed: “Role of the Academia in the Development of the Nigerian Capital Market.”