The Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Lamido Yuguda, has said the non-interest (Islamic) capital market sector in Nigeria is unique and full of potential to facilitate the objective of deepening the financial system and spurring the growth of the country’s economy.
He stated this in his remark at a 4-day Executive Programme on Non-Interest (Islamic) Capital Market (NICM) Products and Basic Accounting Treatment organised by the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) based in Malaysia, and the Auditing and Accounting Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) based in Bahrain.
A statement from SEC quoted Yuguda to have said the recent sovereign issuances of Sukuk by the Nigerian Debt Management Office (DMO), which were all oversubscribed, stressed the need to enhance the commission’s regulatory capacity, adding that the Sovereign Sukuk issuances set the benchmark for other corporates to issue Sukuk for various developmental activities.
He said, “It is worthy of note that whilst the non-interest capital market sector in Nigeria is nascent and unique, it is a market full of potential to facilitate the objective of deepening the financial system and spurring the growth of our economy.”
Although he said SEC developed a 10-year (2015 – 2025) masterplan to widen investments, the Non-interest Capital Market (NICM) segment is still facing challenges in terms of innovation, awareness, acceptance and coverage.
“These challenges underscore the need to provide focused training, capacity building and vigorous stakeholder engagement and awareness programmes,” he said.
