Popoola said this on Wednesday at a virtual conference
themed ‘ETFs in the Nigerian capital market: Opportunities and challenges’.
He also said four new listings were ongoing.
In his opening remarks, the NGX CEO explained that despite
its low market cap, the Exchange was leading the ETFs market in West Africa
with a market capitalisation of N8.87bn ($19.25m).
He noted that the market was still in its nascent state,
compared to the South African ETF market with a $7.11bn capitalisation.
Popoola said, “There has been a dearth of new ETFs listings
on the NGX in recent years, however, there are bright spots on the horizon with
four new ETFs listings in the pipeline. It is incumbent to state that current
macroeconomic challenges resulting in the exit of foreign investors, impacted
the ETFs space which resulted in a sharp dip in the ETFs market Cap from 2020
highs of N24.5bn. We are hopeful that the policy tilt of the new administration
would impact positively on our market.”
Also speaking at the event, the Executive Commissioner,
Operations, Securities and Exchanges Commission, Mr Dayo Obisan, spoke on the
challenges in the market.
Obisan expressed confidence in the ability of experts to
proffer solutions.
He urged all stakeholders including the Fund Managers
Association, NGX, and other institutional investors to extend the message of
ETFs to deepen the market and make the asset class more vibrant, thereby
driving growth in the capital market.
The Executive Director, Central Securities and Clearing
System Plc, Adeyinka Shonekan, spoke on the CSCS’s developmental efforts in the
ETFs market.
He explained how the CSCS was using technology to improve
the onboarding of retail investors into ETFs.
The Manager, Business Development and Exchange Traded
Products at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Adele Hattingh, also gave an
overview of the South African ETFs market including why investors should
consider investing in the asset class.