The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has said that lack of standards is the reason why some of Nigeria’s commodities are not accepted in the international market.
SEC’s Director General, Mr Lamido Yuguda, stated this during a meeting with the management of the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC) in Abuja.
He said there were markets that needed Nigerian commodities but that the only impediment at the moment was the lack of standards which was stopping some of the commodities from being accepted in the international market.
He assured that SEC was working hard to ensure that agricultural products met international specifications for export, hence the need to also work with NAIC in a bid to be able to mitigate various risks in the ecosystem when they happened, adding that, “The sector is key to our country’s future. If we can harness it, it will greatly improve the economy of this country.”
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Yuguda said the commission, as part of its implementation of the 10-year Capital Market Master Plan, constituted a technical committee on the commodities trading ecosystem whose mandate was to identify challenges of the existing framework and develop a roadmap for a vibrant ecosystem.
He said, “The SEC has been doing a lot of things in the commodities sector and the role of NAIC in this sector cannot be overemphasized, and based on that, we would like to explore areas of collaboration to see how far we can help grow that sector together.
Managing Director of NAIC, Mrs Folashade Joseph, stated that her organisation was willing and available to push forward any initiative that would add value to the population and the nation’s economy.
She said, “It is a privilege to do this, as things begin to evolve, we try to push forward what will add value to the population. Our focus is on commodities. There are various evolving issues during the course of our business as insurers because we manage across the value chain.”