The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and GTI Capital Group would work together to further integrate the Nigerian capital market and the global financial markets with a view to deepening the capital formation needed for unlocking Nigeria’s vast investment opportunities.
This understanding was part of the visit of a team from LSEG to GTI Capital Group in Lagos, during which the team visited GTI Securities’ multi-purpose private trading floor, the first of such private trading floor in Sub-Sahara Africa.
Chief of staff and head of international development, London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), Mr. Nikhil Rathi, commended GTI’s vision of seamless facilitation of capital flow and investments between Nigerian and global financial markets.
According to him, GTI’s vision of bringing Africa to the world and bringing the world to Africa is a commendable and noble vision that would lead to development of the Nigerian capital market and the economy.
He noted that with the quality of management and information and communication technologies at GTI, the company is poised to play major role in the integration of Nigerian and global financial markets.
Located on Tinubu Street, in the Marina axis of Lagos’s main Central Business District, the GTI Securities’ private trading floor is a multi-purpose trading floor designed to interface with the most modern trading engines around the world, providing stockbrokers on both sides direct trading opportunity. Already linked and trading online, real time, on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and NASD OTC Plc, the private trading floor is concluding arrangements that will open up similar trading opportunities on the LSEG, New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and other major exchanges.
As a broker-dealer member of the NSE, GTI is also part of the West African Capital Market Integration (WACMI) programme, which is designed to integrate the region’s stock exchanges. The WACMI programme, at full implementation, will enable stockbrokers from any West African country to trade on any of the region’s exchanges and also allow companies to raise capital across the borders. GTI Securities’ private trading engine is designed to trade on all instruments including equities, bonds and derivatives.
Also speaking during the visit, Co-Head of Emerging Markets and Head of Primary Markets, London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), Mr. Ibukun Adebayo, noted that Nigeria, as the largest economy in Africa, has huge opportunities and enormous potential for the development of its capital market and the economy.
He pointed out that Nigerian capital market is still a fraction of the country’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP) whereas it should have been in multiples of the GDP.
He said the LSEG team, which had visited and signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the NSE, was in Nigeria to facilitate dual listing and greater connectivity between Nigeria and London.
Group Managing Director, GTI Capital Group, Mr. Abubakar Lawal said he was optimistic that the visit would engender enduring relationship between Nigerian capital market and London stock market.
He said GTI Securities’ private trading floor has created window of opportunities for investors in the United Kingdom, United States of America and other major global financial centres to trade directly on the Nigerian capital market.
According to him, there are huge opportunities in Nigeria’s vast natural resources which a relationship between GTI and other global market operators like LSEG can help to unlock.
“We need to harness the opportunities of immense capital in Europe and Americas to develop opportunities here in Nigeria,” Lawal said.
He pointed out that GTI’s main objective is to put Nigeria back to work by fostering the capital formation needed to resuscitate ailing companies and create new businesses that will provide jobs for Nigerians and enhance national living standards.
In his presentation, the private trading floor manager, Mr Nnamdi Obi, outlined that the trading floor uses a state-of-the-art trading infrastructure-FIX, which allows a broker to trade on any global exchange from the GTI’s floor.
He said the trading floor is already embedded with adequate risk management frameworks to mitigate risks that could come with global trading.
It should be recalled that key stakeholders had earlier visited and commended the private trading floor including the director general of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the chief executive officer and management team of Nigerian Stock Exchange, the president and council members of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), the chairman and executive members of the Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON) and the managing director and directors of NASD OTC Plc among others.
“What I see here today is an example of what Nigeria can achieve with vision. I could not have imagined what I’m seeing here today, it’s absolutely impressive. You have shown that Nigerians are associated with excellence. What I’m seeing, it could be in the city of London, it could be in New York, it could be in Tokyo or it could be in Lagos and it’s in Lagos. A hearty congratulation to GTI, I’m overwhelmed with what I’m seeing,” director general of SEC, Ms Arunma Oteh had said.
