The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr. Emomotimi Agama, has called for sustained policy consistency and operational resilience across Nigeria’s financial system following the country’s placement on the S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) 2027 Watchlist for possible reclassification from a Standalone to a Frontier Market.
In a strategy and position paper titled “Nigeria’s Path to Index Reclassification: A Unified Strategy on Policy Consistency and Operational Resilience,” Agama said the S&P DJI decision, alongside an ongoing Frontier Market review by FTSE Russell, represents the country’s most significant opportunity in a decade to regain global investor confidence and attract increased foreign portfolio investment.
According to him, Nigeria has moved beyond the stage of designing reforms, with international index providers now focused on whether existing policies are implemented consistently and whether the country’s market infrastructure performs reliably under normal and stressed conditions.
He stated that “the reform programme is complete; the evidence programme now begins,” stressing that the country should focus on demonstrating the effectiveness of reforms already implemented rather than introducing new measures.
He noted that S&P DJI acknowledged Nigeria’s improved regulatory environment, transparency, enforcement and market integrity, but made it clear that the assessment would depend on consistent policy implementation and operational resilience during the observation period running through the remainder of 2026.
Agama explained that the parallel review by FTSE Russell was triggered partly by Nigeria’s successful migration to a T+1 settlement cycle in June 2026, placing the country ahead of many frontiers and several emerging markets in settlement efficiency.
He said although both index providers use different methodologies, they are essentially assessing the same issues, including foreign exchange repatriation, settlement integrity, regulatory consistency and infrastructure reliability.
The SEC boss warned that policy reversals, discretionary regulatory actions, retroactive directives or restrictions on foreign exchange access could undermine Nigeria’s chances of securing a Frontier Market classification.
He identified five pillars of policy consistency required by global index providers: durability of the foreign exchange regime, uniform regulatory enforcement, avoidance of retroactive policy changes, coordination among fiscal, monetary and regulatory authorities, and predictable enforcement of investor rights through the judicial system.
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