Capital Markets

Strong growth in both equities and bonds in 2012, driven by foreign portfolio inflows that more than tripled from $5bn in 2011 to $17bn in 2012, according to the World Bank, cast off the long shadow of the 2008 financial downturn. With liquidity returning, authorities are planning to deepen and diversify the markets through reforms and the launch of new products. While Nigeria remains exposed to international investors’ risk-on, risk-off switches, a growing pool of domestic investors is returning to the equity market for the first time since 2008. With relatively new management enacting key structural reforms to deepen the markets, the private sector should find more alternatives to meet its growing need for capital. This chapter contains an interview with Oscar Onyema, CEO, Nigerian Stock Exchange, and a viewpoint from Wale Agbeyangi, Managing Director, Cordros Capital.