DCMD Project, in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and with the support of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), organised the Nigerian Debt Capital Markets (DCM) Workshop on October 27 – 28, 2015, aimed at stimulating the growth of the Nigerian DCM. The Workshop, themed “The Nigerian Debt Capital Markets – Towards a Brighter Future”, was organised to harness the capacity and potential of the domestic DCM, with the aim of exchanging ideas for enhancing and deepening the Nigerian financial market. The Workshop, which was attended by domestic and international financial market experts and regulators, considered various challenges limiting the growth of the Nigerian DCM, brainstormed on the initiatives required for stimulating the markets’ development and arrived at key decisions that would energise the Nigerian DCM, thereby supporting the economic development of the nation.

The resolutions from the Workshop set the pace for the Nigerian DCM Transformation Roadmap for the Debt Capital Market Development (DCMD) Project.

The Nigerian DCM Workshop Visioning Team and Workshop Planning Committee has transitioned into a DCM Development Project Implementation Team consisting of three levels of implementation committees viz: Steering Committee (SteerCo), Transformation Committee (TransCo) and Sub-Committees (SubCos). The membership of these Committees include representatives from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the National Pension Commission (PenCom), the Debt Management Office (DMO), The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), The African Finance Corporation (AFC), The International Finance Corporation (IFC), Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), FMDQ Group (FMDQ) and other key market stakeholders within the financial market. FMDQ will work closely with these Committees to drive all necessary actions and initiatives required to transform the Nigerian Debt Capital Market within the project implementation horizon spanning 2016 – 2025

Aspiration: The Nigerian DCM Aspiration is to become a become a world-class, properly functioning DCM by 2025.
Strategic Objectives: The DCMD Project provides a transformation framework with workable solutions that will stimulate growth and accelerate the development of the Nigerian DCM, to achieve its aspiration.

To achieve this, four (4) key strategic objectives were identified by stakeholders. These include:

■ Improvement of operational efficiencies and time to market for the issuance of debt securities
■ Promotion of market depth (measured by Debt to Gross Domestic Product [GDP] ratio)
■ Promotion of an enabling environment to allow the capital market to reach its potentials
■ Diversification of products & investors

These objectives were arrived at after a critical review and consideration of all the issues limiting the growth of the Nigerian DCM over the years (based on the experience of market participants including issuers, issuing houses and other intermediaries, regulators, investors, etc.) through active debate and presentation of papers at the “Pre” and “Main” DCM Workshops as well as subsequent engagements after the DCM Workshop.

Transformation Levers: The DCMD Project Transformation Levers are the key drivers of the reforms required to energise the market and the channels through which the strategic objectives of the DCMD Project will be realised. The transformation levers identified after careful deliberations amongst stakeholders include Regulation Consolidation, Housing Finance, Infrastructure Finance, Market Liquidity & Enhancement, Investors, Issuers & Intermediaries Engagement/Education, and Sustainable Finance. It is believed that the Nigerian DCM will be repositioned and energised to play its developmental role in the economy if these key levers are properly addressed.