LAGOS, Nov 10 – Nigeria is proposing a series of regional capital market reforms aimed at integrating securities markets across 10 West African countries, simplifying cross-border investment and improving access to long-term financing for infrastructure and economic growth.
Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele outlined the proposals on Tuesday at an S&P Global Ratings Africa Summit in Lagos, arguing that fragmented capital markets across the region are limiting the ability of countries to attract the scale of investment required to finance major development projects.
Under the proposed framework, Nigeria is seeking to establish a regional securities passport regime that would allow issuers approved in one participating market to raise capital in other member countries without undergoing separate regulatory approval processes in each jurisdiction.
The government is also advocating a unified investor identification system that would enable investors registered in one market to purchase bonds and equities across the region without repeating onboarding and verification requirements.
A further component involves linking regional trading, settlement and payment infrastructure to enable securities transactions to be settled directly in local currencies, reducing dependence on the US dollar for cross-border financial activity.
The proposed framework would cover Nigeria and Ghana, alongside eight francophone countries that share the CFA franc and a common central bank: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
Building on existing regional initiatives
Oyedele said existing financial integration programmes provide a foundation for advancing the proposed reforms. These include the West African Capital Markets Integration Council, the African Exchanges Linkage Project and the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS).
“The task now is to join these pieces together,” Oyedele said.
The proposals also include developing a regional local-currency bond index to improve market visibility and provide investors with a benchmark for assessing debt securities across participating countries.
Nigeria is further proposing a regional credit enhancement facility to support cross-border infrastructure financing. Such a mechanism could help strengthen the credit profile of projects and expand access to financing from institutional investors.
The reforms seek to address structural barriers that have limited the depth and connectivity of West African capital markets. Differences in regulatory requirements, investor registration procedures and settlement systems can increase the cost and complexity of cross-border transactions, restricting the movement of capital between markets.
Nigeria targets $1 trillion capital market
The regional integration agenda forms part of Nigeria’s broader ambition to expand its domestic capital market and attract more local and international investment.
Oyedele said Nigeria is targeting investment-grade credit ratings within three years and aims to build a capital market worth at least $1 trillion under its 10-year capital market plan.
The strategy is intended to strengthen Nigeria’s position as an investment destination while expanding the role of capital markets in mobilising long-term domestic and foreign financing.
For West Africa, the proposed reforms would create a framework for issuers and investors to access a wider pool of capital across national borders. Their implementation, however, would require coordination among participating governments, securities regulators, exchanges and financial infrastructure providers.
