| Iwa Salami, University of East London, UK |
As the second largest economy in Africa, Nigeria is the biggest frontier market in the continent and clearly the most influential country in West Africa, but the next momentous growth of its capital market will be driven by integration of West African markets, says an expert.
Iwa Salami of the School of Law and Social Sciences, University of East London United Kingdom, who is billed to speak at the 4th Nigeria Development and Finance Forum (NDFF) 2013 North America Conference, which will focus on ‘Nigerian Capital Market in West Africa: Opportunities and Challenges’, is expected to give practical strategies to achieve this objective.
She will also discuss regulatory and structural barriers that have to be removed for capital market integration within the ECOWAS region to become a reality.
Speaking ahead of the conference, organised by Financial Nigeria International Limited, publisher of Financial Nigeria magazine, in partnership with Nigerian Export – Import Bank, with the support of Nigerian Embassy in Washington DC, she said: “For growth in the Nigerian capital market to be effectively harnessed through capital markets integration, the domestic legal and financial regulatory frameworks need to be strengthened.
This would require strengthening financial regulatory standards in all Anglophone states of ECOWAS. It would also require effective legal and judicial systems able to enforce contract, property and insolvency rights in a timely manner.
The conference, which will assess and discuss the policy anchors of medium-term country outlook of Nigeria, will provide expert assessment on the state of the Nigerian capital market and how efforts to develop the West African regional capital market can enhance the growth of the Nigerian capital market.
NDFF 2013 conference, which will hold on 4th – 5th June, 2013 at the Washington Marriott at Metro Center in Washington DC, United States, will feature plenary sessions on Nigeria’s finance and investment climate, and targeted market policy briefings on the first day.
Salami, formerly a senior fellow at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary, University of London, said: “Until about two decades ago, the Nigerian capital market had little economic significance to the economy and companies listed on the exchange hardly had any foreign portfolio investor interest. But a different picture is emerging today and the Nigerian capital market has witnessed unprecedented growth.”
Nigeria is said to be of particular interest to investors because it has the second largest capital market in sub-Saharan Africa. The country has a growing middleclass, a stable political climate, and is evolving a strong financial regulatory environment. Nigerian companies are also being listed on global exchanges, thereby attracting foreign investors.
Other themes to be addressed at the conference include opportunities in the emerging Nigerian real estate and housing finance, security and Nigeria’s country outlook, policy framework and opportunities for diaspora investment, agricultural value-chain financing and leveraging development outcomes among others.
Businessday