Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) in collaboration with Bamboo Invest and Africa Prudential Plc. hosted a webinar tagged “Increasing Retail Participation Through Digitalization” on Tuesday, 15 March 2022. This webinar highlighted opportunities to foster the growth of retail investor participation in the Nigerian capital market.
Delivering his opening remark, the Divisional Head, Capital
Markets, NGX, Jude Chiemeka, said “retail participation in the capital markets
has continued to soar across the globe over the years and attributed the
increase to the technological advancements and digital innovations made
especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Highlighting a 2021 report titled ‘The rise of newly
empowered retail investors’, Chiemeka said that roughly six million Americans
downloaded a trading app in January 2021, and retail brokerages witnessed
record-high average daily volumes for equity and options trades.
While listing its efforts and strides to enhance investors’
participation in the Nigerian capital market, Chiemeka noted that the Exchange
is keen on collaborating with organizations with proven and reliable
technological solutions to adapt to digital trends and technologies as well as
innovate with new business models and products/services. "An example of
this innovation was experienced in December 2021, when the Exchange facilitated
the public offer for sale of 575 million shares held in MTN Nigeria by MTN
Group to investors particularly retail investors through the NGX PrimaryOffer
app. The offer was priced at N169 per share and over-subscribed by 139.47 per
cent.”
Speaking on the topic, ‘Understanding Millennials in the
Capital Market,’ the Chief Operating Officer, Bamboo Invest, Yanmo Omorogbe,
said “the millennial investors are interested in companies with great
fundamentals and compelling narratives, companies that make consumers rethink
their behavior, and companies building the next set of critical digital
infrastructure.” She also spoke about how to increase millennial participation
in the capital market.
Expounding on ‘The Journey into Digitilization,’ the Chief
Technology Officer, Africa Prudential Plc, Mr. David Ogunsola took participants
through the various investment instruments available for digitalization
transformation.
NGX continues to respond to the growing need for increased
retail participation in the market through its products and services, advanced
strides in the use of technology and more frequent engagements across
touchpoint. The market continues to look forward to initiatives such as this
that will ultimately deepen the capital market and improve liquidity.