Shareholders’ associations in the country have urged regulators of Nigeria’s capital market to channel their resources toward attracting more domestic investors rather than wooing foreign investors.
By doing this, they argued that the regulators stood a better chance of properly developing the market and protecting it against the level of volatility currently being witnessed.
According to experts, less than 10 million Nigerians currently participate in the capital market out of a population of 170 million and the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria and Renaissance Shareholders Association of Nigeria all argue that the neglect of domestic investors is largely responsible for the low participation.
In separate interviews with our correspondent, the leaders of the associations insisted that the regulators had focused more on the foreign investors and developed the market to suit their needs.
“Domestic investors are not encouraged to come to the market,” the President, RSAN, Mr. Olufemi Timothy, said.
“The authorities of the Nigerian Stock Exchange believe in foreign investors to the detriment of local investors. So, what do you expect? They have travelled all over the world looking for foreign investors, but what have they done about the domestic investors?”
According to him, a review of the way the market runs shows that there is little effort to factor in the peculiarities of Nigeria and Nigerian investors.
He said, “Whatever happens in Europe and the US now determines what happens in our market and we are saying our market drives our economy. It means you want other people to come and control your capital market and your economy.”
The NSE has insisted over time that it is committed to protecting both foreign and domestic investors.
It had inaugurated a financial literacy programme in 2012, which included Investor Clinic, an investor education initiative designed to address low investor confidence and create better informed investors.
In addition to the Investor Clinic, the Exchange said it had organised over 287 investor education workshops for “grassroots level” investors (civil servants, students, SMEs, etc) across Nigeria via its thirteen branch offices.
Timothy, however, stressed that the regulators were getting their investment drive wrong, insisting that a different approach was needed.
This, he said, was because despite claims that several investor education programmes had been held in the country, the impact had been minimal.
The President, PSAN, Mr. Boniface Okezie, who held a similar view, warned that the dominance of the capital market by foreign investors was detrimental to the country.
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