Nigeria sees $50 billion in crypto trades, SEC reports
Nigerian investors traded more than $50 billion in cryptocurrency from July 2023 through June 2024, yet fewer than four percent of adults participate in the traditional capital market. Securities and Exchange Commission director Emomotimi Agama presented these figures at the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers conference while discussing the results of the Capital Market Masterplan.
Roughly 60 million Nigerians spend $5.5 million daily on gambling compared to three million people investing in stocks and bonds. The nation’s market capitalization ratio stands at 30 percent of gross domestic product while South Africa reaches 320 percent and Malaysia hits 123 percent.
Authorities completed fewer than half of the 108 initiatives outlined in the 2015 master plan due to weak coordination and insufficient tracking systems. Green bonds and Islamic finance products entered the market, but trading volume remains concentrated in Airtel Africa, Dangote Cement and MTN Nigeria.
The country faces a $150 billion annual infrastructure funding gap while pension assets and diaspora capital remain underutilized. Agama said regulators must transform the securities industry into a financing engine for national development rather than simply overseeing transactions.
