Nigeria eyes 4th industrial revolution lead with Investment and Securities Act
Onome Amuge
Joseph Tegbe, director-general of the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership (NCSP)
Experts and policymakers have hailed Nigeria’s newly enacted Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2025 as a crucial step positioning the nation as a major player in the unfolding Fourth Industrial Revolution. The landmark legislation, signed into law in March, empowers the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to provide regulatory oversight for digital assets, virtual asset service providers (VASPs), and tokenised securities, bringing much-needed clarity to a sector previously operating in a regulatory grey zone.
The significance of the ISA was a key focus at the recent ‘Digital Asset Markets Strategy Masterclass Series’ held recently in Lagos.
Joseph Tegbe, director-general of the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership (NCSP), speaking at the event, underscored the importance of leveraging Chinese technological advancements, particularly within the digital asset market, alongside facilitating crucial knowledge transfer.
Tegbe affirmed the NCSP’s commitment to supporting the globalisation of Nigeria’s capital market. He also detailed the potential impact of the digital RMB, outlining how Nigeria could leverage and benefit from its adoption.
Tegbe announced that Nigeria had secured over $30 billion in investment commitments and received 300 expressions of interest from various Chinese companies in the past five months. He further disclosed plans to soon sign a pact with China on the digital RM’, which would enable direct conversion between the Naira and the Chinese Yuan, potentially reducing Nigeria’s reliance on the US dollar. This move, he explained, signifies a deepening of the relationship between Nigeria and China, transitioning from a primarily trade-based dynamic towards a mutually beneficial development partnership.
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos State, represented by Abayomi Oluyomi, the commissioner of finance, announced ambitious plans for the state to monetise underutilised assets and issue a green bond to finance crucial infrastructure development. This initiative is expected to position Lagos as the first sub-national entity in Nigeria to undertake such a move.
Oluyomi further elaborated that Lagos State is in the process of developing a securitisation policy aimed at liquidating its idle assets to fund the state’s infrastructure requirements.
Nicholas Okoye, the convener of the Masterclass and a globally recognised investment advisor, spoke on the transformative power of digital assets in driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He stated that this technological shift is impacting every industry and is projected to generate substantial wealth for astute investors, institutions, nations, and sub-national entities.
Okoye emphasised that the most strategic ecosystem of this digital transformation has got to be digital asset markets, which includes investment in cryptocurrencies as well as the tokenisation (digitisation) of traditional asset classes. He argued that the full adoption of digital asset markets within Nigeria’s capital markets and subsequently across Africa has the potential to be a game changer for wealth creation and economic growth sustainability,fundamentally reshaping the future of African finance, investment, and capital market industries.
Concluding his address, Okoye asserted that digital assets present a golden opportunity for Africans to create wealth for all its people, irrespective of their profession or location. He posited that the digital asset markets will, for the first time in Nigeria and Africa’s history, offer a rare and unique opportunity for a true measure and a true reflection of Nigeria’s and subsequently Africa’s entire wealth position.