The West African Capital Markets Integration (WACMI), has announced a minimum capital standard of $500,000 for broker/dealers that intends to trade across the West African region.

At the two-day Capacity Building/Sensitisation Programme on WACMI Phase II Project held in Lagos yesterday, the Chief Economist of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Nigeria, Okey Umeano, while addressing participants at the event said: “This is the regulatory capital that we have proposed, this is the standard we will use for the West African market. If you must trade across the market, you must have this amount as regulatory capital.

“Whenever the minimum capital falls below the threshold, you will be called upon to raise it if they want to retain their status in the integrated market but if they do not want to stay in the integrated market, they can leave the market and stick to the regulatory capital of their of their market,” he said

Also, speaking at the event, the Director General of the West African Monetary Institute, Dr. Olorunsola Olowofeso said one of the aims of the West African WACMI Phase II Project is to deepen West African markets as well as achieve robust and integrated capital markets.

The WACMI PHASE 2 Project is funded by the African Development Bank through a grant from the Capital Markets Development Trust Fund and implemented by the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) while the lead anchors are the West African Capital Markets Integration Council (WACMIC), a platform for Chief Executive Officers of the Securities Exchanges and Central Securities Depositories in West Africa, and the West African Securities Regulators Association (WASRA), comprised of directors general of the securities and exchange commissions in the region.

Olowofeso who stated that the capacity building and sensitisation workshop is designed to enhance the skill level of different classes of market participants through dedicated training on operating rules, investment processes, trading and settlement operations for cross-border investments, also added that it is expected to create awareness and sensitize the public on the implementation of the WACMI Phase 2 Project.

According to him, aside the harmonisation of market rules and the capacity building and sensitisation programme across the stock exchanges in ECOWAS, other activities under component I include the development and hosting of a centralised database and website for the West

He assured that WAMI as implementing agency of the project will continue to collaborate with all the stakeholders, particularly WASRA and WACMIC to ensure that the project is completed within the stipulated time (June 2024).

Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Lamido Yuguda, stated that the initiative aims to establish a common and integrated platform for listing, trading, and settling securities transactions within West Africa.

He said, “One of the primary objectives of this program is to enhance awareness of the WACMI Phase II Project and its significance for the region’s capital market ecosystem.

“We seek to foster a comprehensive understanding of the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead as we strive to facilitate cross-border investments and create a seamless trading environment within West Africa.

Represented by Executive Commissioner Operations at the SEC, Dayo Obisan, Yuguda stated that the programme aims to facilitate a fruitful knowledge exchange, enabling learning from each other’s experiences and identify practical solutions to strengthen cross-border investment and trading activities adding that this will ultimately bring about the much-desired integrated capital market that would cater for the region.

“Capital markets play the crucial role of channelling capital from the place of surplus to that of deficit, helping make production and in turn, development possible. For development to happen, a strong capital market is a requisite.

“There is a need to expand the markets in the sub-region, and one of the ways to do it is to encourage cross-border capital market activity. This increases the opportunity set for people in our sub-region, helps diversification of investments, and encourages the transfer of skills and best practices” he stated.

Giving an overview of the West African Capital Market Integration (WACMI) Phase II Project, Project Manager, Dr. Abdulrasheed Zubair, disclosed that the direct beneficiaries include WACMIC comprising Ghana Stock Exchange, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Cape Verde Stock Exchange and Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM). Other beneficiaries include the capital market ecosystems of The Gambia, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone

“The Indirect beneficiaries are Stockbrokers, securities traders, central securities depositories in the West African region, Institutional investors including pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds and other asset managers operating within the region.”

The aim of the project he stated, is to facilitate cross-border investments in the ECOWAS region through the harmonisation of regulations for trading and settlement of capital market securities transactions.

“Establish a harmonised regulatory environment for the issuance and trading of capital market securities across the region and strengthen capital markets data collation and dissemination for West African capital markets.”