By Peter Egwuatu, with agency reports

The Nigerian Stock Exchange , NSE will soon commence trading naira futures that will help investors hedge against movements in the local currency, Chief Executive Officer Oscar Onyema said.

“It would be awesome if we had a naira-dollar contract that we could trade on the exchange,” he said in an interview in London on Monday. “Futures and options are asset classes that we think would be very beneficial to foreign investors.”

The NSE might offer futures by the end of 2017, Onyema said. Traders and bankers have called for a loosening of controls enforced by Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Governor to protect the currency of Africa’s biggest oil producer against a 45 percent slump in Brent crude prices in the past year. The naira has weakened 18 percent against the dollar in that period.

The stock exchange has a “very rich pipeline” of companies that may start trading their shares this year depending on market conditions, including businesses that could list securities in London and Lagos, the CEO said. “We’re seeing interest” in initial public offerings and secondary listings from oil and gas, fast-moving consumer goods, telecommunication and industrial-goods companies abroad, Onyema said. “Dual listing will be part of the pitch.”