The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says cryptocurrency transactions worth more than $50 billion passed through Nigeria between July 2023 and June 2024 — a trend it warns is widening the gap between digital finance and the traditional capital market.
SEC Director-General, Dr. Emomotimi Agama, in a statement on Sunday, expressed concern that despite the surge in crypto activity, fewer than four per cent of Nigerian adults participate in the regulated capital market.
He said fewer than three million Nigerians currently invest in the capital market, while over 60 million engage in daily betting, spending about $5.5 million each day.
“This reveals a paradox — the appetite for risk clearly exists, but not the trust or access to channel that energy into productive investment,” he noted.
Agama also highlighted Nigeria’s low market capitalisation-to-GDP ratio at roughly 30 per cent, compared with South Africa’s 320 per cent, Malaysia’s 123 per cent, and India’s 92 per cent — an imbalance he described as a critical barrier to capital formation and economic growth.
He pointed to Nigeria’s annual infrastructure deficit of $150 billion, contrasting it with the roughly N1.5 trillion approved so far in PPP bonds, stressing the disconnect between financial innovation and national development needs.
Agama called for a redesigned and more proactive regulatory framework where the SEC drives investor confidence while enabling private-sector-led economic expansion.
