As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to impact businesses and individuals in Nigeria with unquantifiable losses, Nigerians have been urged to look to the capital market as an avenue to create wealth.
The Acting Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms. Mary Uduk, gave the advice on Tuesday in Abuja. Uduk said the commission was aware of the economic implications of the virus, hence the management has ensured that the capital market remains open for trading.
Noting that while the lockdown and its current partial easing has had tremendous negative impact on Nigeria’s economy and lives of citizens, the investment expert urged Nigerians to remain resolute and explore opportunities available in the capital market.
She advised: “We must continue to make the best we can of the situation. As a regulator, we have put measures in place to ensure our market does not shut down, trade is presently going on at the various exchanges that make up our market. The Nigerian Stock Exchange is continuing with trading, the FMDQ and all the Exchanges are actually continuing and everything is going well.
“We are leveraging technology to continue our activities. Initially, people were afraid that technology would have bad effects like loss of jobs, but right now it has become a saving grace. So, most of us have put our Business Continuity Plans (BCP) in process. Staff are working, we are interacting with market operators who are also working, and our market is open.
“We released three circulars concerning actions against COVID-19. One of them was to request Capital Market Operators and organisations we regulate to send us reports on their Business Continuity Plans and processes (BCP) and as you can see the market has been trading as everyone activated their BCPs. We have also requested public companies to continue to send out information to ensure investors are informed.
“They are to give out information on how COVID-19 would affect them, and if possible, make forecasts and outlooks to let investors know how they expect the pandemic to affect their operations and profitability”, the SEC boss added She stated that before the partial easing of the lockdown, both the SEC and stakeholders in the market were all working remotely adding that these are being done to ensure there is no shut down.
