The Federal Government is pushing for reforms to integrate capital markets across West Africa, to make cross-border bond trading easier and attract more long-term investment into infrastructure and economic development.
Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele unveiled the proposals on Tuesday at the S&P Global Ratings Africa Summit in Lagos, where he warned that fragmented financial markets across the region were restricting access to large-scale financing.
He said no single West African market was sufficiently deep to attract the level of investment required to fund major infrastructure projects and support sustained economic growth.
One of Nigeria’s key proposals is the introduction of a regional capital market passport system. Under the arrangement, companies and institutions approved to raise funds in one participating country would be able to access investors in other member states without going through separate regulatory approval processes.
The government is also proposing a common investor identification system that would allow individuals and institutions registered in one market to purchase bonds and shares across the region without repeating registration and verification procedures.
Another major component of the plan involves connecting regional trading platforms, settlement systems and payment infrastructure. This would enable securities transactions to be completed directly in local currencies, reducing dependence on the US dollar.
The proposed framework would cover 10 West African countries: Nigeria, Ghana and eight French-speaking countries that use the CFA franc and share a common central bank. They are Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
Oyedele said existing regional initiatives could provide the foundation for the proposed integration. These include the West African Capital Markets Integration Council, the African Exchanges Linkage Project and the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS).
He said the priority was to connect these separate initiatives into a coordinated regional system capable of supporting broader investment flows.
The minister also proposed establishing a regional local-currency bond index to give investors a clearer picture of market performance and creating a credit enhancement facility to support infrastructure financing across national borders.
The reforms are part of Nigeria’s wider ambition to deepen its domestic capital market and strengthen its position as an investment destination.
Oyedele said the government was targeting investment-grade credit ratings within three years and seeking to grow the country’s capital market to at least $1 trillion under a 10-year development plan.
He added that improving access to capital and making investment processes more efficient would help attract both domestic and foreign investors.
The proposed regional reforms are intended to widen the pool of available funding, improve market liquidity and make it easier for businesses and governments across West Africa to raise long-term capital.
