By WILLIAM JIMOH

The Association of Asset Custodians of Nigeria, AACN, has expressed concern over the small size of the portfolio market in Africa.

Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos, President of the association, Mr. Segun Sanni, said that portfolio market in Africa currently accounts for $1 trillion out of $120 trillion global portfolio investments.

Sanni added that at present Nigeria accounts for just about $30 billion of the African portfolio market, saying that listing more companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, would attract more investors into the country.

He called for the development of the Nigerian capital market so as to position it to effectively tap from the $120 trillion global portfolio investment market.

According to him, when foreign investors invest in an economy, they boost the economy, the current account position of the country, as well as its foreign reserve position.

His word, “We do not have enough products in the market yet and if they bring their money, it will only be chasing after the little products available, which will eventually increase the price of the shares. We are working with the various market regulators to create more securities that investors can invest in.

“We are trying to make our market more attractive so that they will not think of our market as one where they need to sell down; instead, they will bring in more money. We are not doing them any good by ensuring that they invest in our market, it is a win-win affair. Aside this, it will have a positive impact on our economy.

“We have in the global investment environment, assets worth over $120 trillion under custody and we have just about $1 trillion of that invested in Africa which is not even up to one percent.

“Out of the current capitalisation of the market, foreign investors account for 20 percent compared to an emerging country like Malaysia where they have up to 70 percent. This shows that there are still abundant opportunities to be tapped in the market,” Sanni said.

Speaking further, he stated that as part of effort to project the Nigerian market in positive light and make it attractive to these class of investors, the association currently plans a one day conference, tagged “Nigeria: Road to Emergence” to hold later this moth in London.

The conference, which is the third in the series, will bring to a roundtable, the foreign investors, with regulators from Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, stockbrokers, custodians, asset managers, fund managers, trustees among others, to talk about our opportunities and challenges.