Nigerian capital market positioning Data, AI, to drive investment decisions – SEC

The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Nigeria, Emomotimi Agama, has said Nigeria’s capital market is positioning data, artificial intelligence and technology-driven regulation at the centre of investment decision-making.

This, the SEC D.G said is geared towards attracting both domestic and foreign capital. Speaking at the FSDH Investor Conference 2026 in Lagos, Agama said the future of investing would be defined by the quality of intelligence and data available to investors rather than the volume of capital they control.

According to him, the era of “intelligent investing” has already arrived, driven by artificial intelligence, real-time analytics, distributed ledger technology and algorithmic systems that are reshaping how investments are priced, allocated and protected globally.

He said, “We are at the threshold of what scholars and practitioners are calling the era of intelligent investing — a paradigm in which data does not merely inform decisions, but actively participates in them.”

Agama noted that the SEC had embarked on what he described as the most comprehensive regulatory reform agenda in its history to ensure Nigeria remains competitive in the evolving global investment environment.

He explained that the Commission’s reforms were aimed at creating a forward-looking market structure capable of supporting intelligent investing through faster settlement systems, tokenised securities and deeper derivatives markets.

According to him, the Commission’s seven-pillar capital market infrastructure vision includes plans to achieve T+1 settlement cycles, expand digital assets regulation and build a com- prehensive framework for tokenised securities.

The SEC boss said the Commission was also developing governance frameworks for artificial intelligence applications in the capital market to ensure transparency, accountability and investor confidence.

“We are developing AI governance frame- works for capital market participants — frameworks that demand explainability, accountability and algorithmic fairness. An investor in Nigeria deserves to know not only what decisions were made on their behalf, but how those decisions were reached,” he said.

Agama stated that intelligent investing must be inclusive and accessible to ordinary Nigerians, adding that the SEC’s fintech-bank integration strategy targets about 20 million retail investors across the country