NGX, Bamboo and Africa Prudential collaborate on retail investor education

Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) in collaboration with Bamboo Invest and Africa Prudential Plc. hosted a webinar tagged “Increasing Retail Participation Through Digitalization” on Tuesday, 15 March 2022. This webinar highlighted opportunities to foster the growth of retail investor participation in the Nigerian capital market.

Delivering his opening remark, the Divisional Head, Capital Markets, NGX, Jude Chiemeka, said “retail participation in the capital markets has continued to soar across the globe over the years and attributed the increase to the technological advancements and digital innovations made especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Highlighting a 2021 report titled ‘The rise of newly empowered retail investors’, Chiemeka said that roughly six million Americans downloaded a trading app in January 2021, and retail brokerages witnessed record-high average daily volumes for equity and options trades.

While listing its efforts and strides to enhance investors’ participation in the Nigerian capital market, Chiemeka noted that the Exchange is keen on collaborating with organizations with proven and reliable technological solutions to adapt to digital trends and technologies as well as innovate with new business models and products/services. “An example of this innovation was experienced in December 2021, when the Exchange facilitated the public offer for sale of 575 million shares held in MTN Nigeria by MTN Group to investors particularly retail investors through the NGX PrimaryOffer app. The offer was priced at N169 per share and over-subscribed by 139.47 per cent.”

Speaking on the topic, ‘Understanding Millennials in the Capital Market,’ the Chief Operating Officer, Bamboo Invest, Yanmo Omorogbe, said “the millennial investors are interested in companies with great fundamentals and compelling narratives, companies that make consumers rethink their behavior, and companies building the next set of critical digital infrastructure.” She also spoke about how to increase millennial participation in the capital market.

Expounding on ‘The Journey into Digitilization,’ the Chief Technology Officer, Africa Prudential Plc, Mr. David Ogunsola took participants through the various investment instruments available for digitalization transformation.

NGX continues to respond to the growing need for increased retail participation in the market through its products and services, advanced strides in the use of technology and more frequent engagements across touchpoint. The market continues to look forward to initiatives such as this that will ultimately deepen the capital market and improve liquidity.