The Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) is set to hold its 30th annual conference in Lagos, focusing on how record capital mobilisation can translate into faster growth, productive investment, and shared prosperity. The conference, themed “From Capital Mobilised to Prosperity Realised: Financing Nigeria’s Next Era of Growth and Global Competitiveness,” will take place from November 4 to 5 at Harbour Point, Lagos. The event aims to push for a stronger link between capital raised through Nigeria’s capital market and measurable economic outcomes.
Chairman of CIS’s Conference Committee, Saheed Bashir, stated that the conference would bring together policymakers, regulators, market operators, investors, and international stakeholders to examine how the capital market can become a more effective engine of long-term economic development. The theme was inspired by the need to move the national conversation beyond the size and performance of the capital market to what mobilised capital ultimately delivers to the real economy. Bashir noted that the value of listed companies has risen to about N160 trillion from roughly N30 trillion in May 2023.
The conference will examine measures required to attract greater domestic and foreign participation, including improved market access, efficient repatriation of investment proceeds, transparent foreign exchange arrangements, investor protection, digital onboarding, and a stronger pipeline of quality listings. Bashir identified deeper institutional investment, macroeconomic stability, and a shift from measuring market performance solely by market capitalisation to tracking jobs, output, and household wealth as critical to achieving the desired impact.
According to Bashir, Nigeria needs a deliberate “transmission mechanism” linking funds raised in the capital market to manufacturing, agriculture, infrastructure, and small and medium-sized enterprises, supported by transparent reporting on the utilisation of proceeds. The capital market should increasingly serve as the economy’s principal source of long-term finance, particularly for infrastructure and productive assets that require patient capital. The Dangote Refinery IPO provides an example of how public capital can be deployed to support productive capacity.
The conference is expected to produce a policy communiqué containing recommendations to government and key financial-market regulators, as well as an outcome framework for measuring the impact of capital mobilisation on the wider economy. It will also consider product innovation, retail participation, market infrastructure, technology, ethics, and capacity building as part of efforts to position Nigeria’s capital market for its next phase of development.
Stockbrokers will remain central to this process, with Bashir describing them as “the market’s front door and its ambassadors.” He identified professionalism, research, technology, investor access, and efficient execution of large transactions as key areas where the profession must continue to raise standards. The event comes as the Institute marks three decades of its annual conference and follows the historic emergence of Dr. Fiona Nyako Ahmed Ahimie, FCS, as the Institute’s 14th President and first female President.
The conference will also examine the role of stockbrokers in driving economic growth and prosperity, with a focus on their ability to facilitate transactions and provide investment advice. The outcome of the conference is expected to have a significant impact on the development of Nigeria's capital market and the economy as a whole. Key recommendations and outcome frameworks will be developed to guide future policy decisions.
Key points
- The conference aims to push for a stronger link between capital raised through Nigeria’s capital market and measurable economic outcomes.
- The event will examine measures required to attract greater domestic and foreign participation in the capital market.
- The conference is expected to produce a policy communiqué containing recommendations to government and key financial-market regulators.
