Innovation key to commodities development – SEC

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says it is committed to promoting innovation and collaboration to position commodities exchanges as vital drivers of economic growth.

This is contained in a notice by the Director-General of SEC, Dr Emomotimi Agama, said on Sunday in Abuja.

Agama said the commission would innovate in capacity building, infrastructure development and partnership with stakeholders to improve and sustain commodities markets.

“Our role in sustaining commodities exchanges in Nigeria cannot be overlooked because at the heart of these exchanges’ functionality is the SEC whose regulatory oversight plays a pivotal role in ensuring their sustainability and credibility.

”Commodities exchanges in Nigeria facilitate the buying and selling of commodities in a structured and transparent environment.

”They provide farmers, traders, and investors with standardised contracts, enabling market efficiency and mitigating risks,” he said.

Agama said the vision of SEC was to provide an enabling environment, to protect investors, and to create a developmental strategy that would bring the commodities market into an enviable state.

”Nigeria is a commodity space; every state of this country has commodities in commercial quantities, so we are working to build that ecosystem in such a way that we are able to meet all of the blocks within the value chain.

”This will help us to achieve economic development, prosperity and a level playing field for every practitioner in this space,” Agama said.