SEC to Commence Capacity Building for Stakeholders on Commodities Exchange

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has expressed its readiness to commence capacity building for stakeholders and the public on commodities exchange to bridge the current knowledge gap.

SEC said the move was part of the implementation of the report of its Technical Committee on Commodities Trading Ecosystem.

The acting Director General of the SEC, Ms. Mary Uduk, stated this when a delegation of the Commodity Brokers Association of Nigeria (CBAN), led by its Registrar, Alhaji Saleh Kwaru, visited the commission in Abuja.

Uduk, who was represented by the acting Executive Commissioner, Operations, SEC, Mr Isyaku Tilde, said the Commodities Trading Ecosystem committee’s report, published on SEC’s website, contains no fewer than 40 recommendations on how to have an efficient commodities exchange.

“One of the recommendations is capacity building of stakeholders and the public on commodities exchange, to bridge existing knowledge gap to ensure we reap the benefits of trading in commodities. The SEC is ready to partner with CBAN in that regard.

“The aim of SEC is to have an efficient commodities exchange becauseright now that sector of the capital market is dormant. Part of the issues that the committee is trying to address is capacity building and public enlightenment campaigns.

“I believe that part of the things CBAN is doing is capacity building, which is one area where we can collaborate going forward,” she said.

Earlier, the Registrar of CBAN Alhaji Saleh Kwaru, commended the SEC for developing the Nigerian Capital Market Master Plan, and for registering two private commodities exchanges to open up the market.

Kwaru said the association started 13 years, and currently had 800 members certified by the Nigeria Commodities Exchange (NCX) to provide training.

He said, “We have been training people since 2009. We currently have 800 members, 15 of whom are SEC staff members. Today, we have close to

200 commodities brokers registered with NCX, and with this, we are set

to operate on the floor of the NCX as soon as its trading platform is

ready.

“We are here to seek your support as the regulator, because we learnt

there are other administrative processes that the brokers have to

undergo to be licensed by SEC” he said.

The registrar also solicited the commission’s support for CBAN’s push

to secure presidential assent to the Chartered Institute of Commodity

Brokers Association of Nigeria (CICBN).