Investments in forex, cryptocurrency, gold, crude oil, and stocks remain priority decision for savvy investors. The risks that come with such investments require that only approved entities with the right tools for risk management and an optimal outcome are engaged. In this interview with Assistant Business Editor COLLINS NWEZE, the Commercial Director for Nigeria, Exness, Oluwatosin Olusanmi, speaks on how the online multi-asset broker is handling transactions across Africa and impact of card-based transactions on its operations.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has restricted commercial banks transacting with cryptocurrency and Bitcoin operators. Don’t you think that such ban will affect your acceptance into the Nigerian market?
This is a frequent misconception so I will use it as an opportunity to clarify that online brokers are governed by a different rulebook and regulatory framework than banks. Multi-asset brokers like Exness offer Contract for Differences (CFDs) on cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.This, essentially, means you can trade the price movement of these assets without owning them, ultimately, enjoying lower costs and the potential for profit in any market climate, such as bull or bear markets.
In terms of being regulated in Africa, we have licences from two of the most prestigious authorities on the continent: South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) and Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA).
As an online multi-asset broker, what plans do you have to ensure your services get to the people not only in cities, but at the grassroots?
So, there are two parts to this answer – the first is a clarification that to trade in any of the financial products we offer, an internet connection is required. Exness does not operate with middlemen; our traders conduct their transactions online.
The second part addresses the communication of our brand and offering to those in Nigeria, not just the people in cities. Our local teams, consisting of Key Account Managers all over Africa, travel the continent across the year conducting seminars in cities and smaller towns.These take place over a few days, educating potential traders about the markets and our products.
Online trading comes with lots of risks. What are you doing to ensure that investors are not unduly exposed to risks that could lead to loss of funds or confidence in your operations?
To start with, online trading comes with risks in every part of the world. The key lies in finding a broker, which safeguards your investments and offers as many tools as possible for risk management and an optimal outcome. The rest is in your hands. At Exness, we offer negative balance protection to ensure you will never lose more than you invested, we keep client funds segregated from company funds, and above all, we are the first and one of the only brokers to offer instant withdrawals. On the trading side of things, we offer enhanced protection tools like price gap protection and stop-out protection.
As an online multi-asset broker, Exness has been offering services in online trading since 2008 and has been operating in Nigeria for a while. How prepared are you to meet the growing expectations of Nigerian traders through product offerings and quality service?
Exness has indeed been around since 2008, which means we have weathered the ups and downs of this industry for a decade and a half, fortified our business model, achieved global expansion in Africa and beyond, and have perfected our product offering to reflect the latest technology and the best pricing and market conditions which can be found.
We are more than prepared to meet the growing expectations of Nigerian traders in terms of product and service. Exness not only offers CFD currency trading, but also trading in commodities such as gold and oil, cryptos, indices and stocks. This happens on market-leading platforms like MetaTrader 4 & 5 and Exness Trade, boosted with advanced trading tools and protective features to tackle volatile markets. With local support teams, we are also prepared to be at the side of traders in Nigeria, around the clock.
Could you briefly explain the key products and services that will be driving your operations in Nigeria, and what makes them different from what you offer in other climes?
As mentioned earlier, the key products and services we offer are Contract for Differences (CFDs) on currencies, commodities, cryptos, stocks and indices. Gold is one of our most traded financial instruments and it will also be a key product in driving local operations; we will also place heavy emphasis on oil. Our core differentiating factor is our trading conditions. We keep spreads low even in times of high volatility, 80 per cent of client orders are executed in less than 25 milliseconds and occurrences like slippage are extremely rare. We offer swap-free accounts for everyone, instant withdrawals and a trading environment which is free of friction. As a result, our brand is associated with reliability, transparency, and superior pricing and execution.
Exness has exceeded $3 trillion transaction volume as of February 2023. Could you explain the key drivers of these results, including the segments that contributed the most to this performance and areas you are propping up for improvement?
Exness is the first and only broker in the world to break the $1, $2 and $3 trillion trading volume benchmarks. The key driver in reaching these momentous milestones is the exponential growth we have witnessed year after year. Our global expansion over the years means that we offer our services to clients in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Latin American (LatAm) and Asia, signifying a huge increase in traders and volumes, especially across forex majors and commodities.
The growing number of happy clients is a direct reflection of the frictionless trading environment we offer, in which we currently have 500,000 traders enjoying amazing pricing and execution and choosing Exness over and over again. There will always be areas of improvement, even in the most thriving businesses, but our focus is to keep doing what we do best, optimising it from every point of view.
What are the biggest challenges you are facing in Africa and how are they being addressed?
Africa is rife with opportunities, but it has its fair share of challenges too. One of these is travel between countries; often this is not as straightforward as one might think, even with countries that share a border. Another challenge is communication, given the many languages and dialects, and lastly, finding the appropriate partners to really lift our business off the ground. We are a global, credible company and as such we wish to only partner with the best in all fields.
Luckily, we have found ways to tackle these challenges. We have excellent teams operating across Africa – specialists in different countries and regions, multilingual, exceptionally well trained and all representing the ethos and values of Exness. We have also searched far and wide and done our due diligence in partnering with trustworthy vendors, and as a result of the above have overcome the vast majority of challenges.
Do you expect Nigeria’s gradual transition from cash-based to card based economy to improve your output and transaction speed in the country?
We do indeed as our business model and entire user journey is of an online nature. The transition to card-based will make our services more accessible to traders in Nigeria, as they can fund their accounts very easily using cards and other non-cash payments, facilitating transactions.
I can’t deny the infrastructure gaps when it comes to e-payment transactions in Nigeria, but I can only say they are improving at a rapid pace as the need to go digital grows, and that it can only get better from this point. At Exness, we work with the best payment providers in the country and in Africa at large, and we have no concerns as to their efficiency and professionalism.
The COVID-19 pandemic affected several businesses, but it was a great growth opportunity for others. Would you say the pandemic impacted your operations and level of acceptance of online trading by your customers?
The pandemic influenced the online brokerage industry as a whole and was catalytic in its growth due to the fact that people were at home for long periods of time during lockdowns. This led to a dive in the online world and a desire to find new ways to keep their time busy and their minds sharpened. Online trading presented itself as an opportunity to educate oneself, invest their money and pass the time on something that was not mindless and futile.
What is your view on partnerships and collaborations for seamless services and wider reach to your customers. Are they things you would want to consider in the Nigerian environment?
The right partnerships and collaborations are instrumental for seamless services and wider reach, whether we are talking about payment providers or affiliates. As mentioned earlier, we aim to partner the most trusted and reputable payment providers in all countries we offer services in, which leads to happier customers, effective transactions and heightened credibility. Going a step further, we also work with a vast network of affiliate marketers and influencers to widen our reach – experts in the world of trading who can help echo our message to the right audiences and use their own experience with Exness as an example. This approach is definitely something we are already implementing in Nigeria too.
What is Exness’ five-year vision on expansion, profitability, and product development plan with the business group?
Our vision remains as, always, ambitious and pioneering. In addition to upholding our position as the world’s leading and largest broker, we have our eyes set on breaking new records in trading volumes and active clients, as well as expanding our footprint to new corners of the world with new licenses and physical offices. In terms of product development, we will continue in our endless strive to create technology that will offer an enhanced trading experience, using data science and algorithmic frameworks to guide our products to the core and to innovate in a way no other broker has. The bedrock of our vision is and will always be superior pricing and execution for traders worldwide, in a trading environment that is close to flawless.