The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that there are less than 2 per cent participation of retail investors in the Nigerian stock market as the commission aims to attract more retail investors into the Nigerian capital market in its determination to deepen and develop the market.
The director-general of the SEC, Mounir Gwarzo, stated that one of the reasons why the commission has embarked on various initiatives, such as e-Dividend, Direct Cash Settlement, National Investors Protection Fund (NIPF) among others, is to attract retail investors to the market.
“We have pursued a lot of initiatives in the last year and we are pursuing more this year. We are taking it from a perspective that this market has never witnessed and the perspective is to address some of the lingering complaints of the investor. We believe that the retail investors are the owners of this market so our strategy should focus on them,” he said.
Gwarzo explained that the commission has identified some of the challenges impeding the retail investor from accessing the market and believe that tackling these challenges through the recent initiatives by the commission would be more productive.
