The DCMD Project, having received the unrivalled support of the apex regulator, SEC, was officially launched during the Commission’s 3rd Quarter Capital Market Committee Meeting, on November 24, 2016. Its focus on identifying and implementing quick-win strategies that would transform the Nigerian DCM into a world-class, properly functioning DCM by 2020 draws strongly from SEC’s 10-Year Nigerian Capital Market Master Plan (NCMMP), with the DCMD Project seeking to fast-track the realisation of the DCM initiatives in the NCMMP. The vision of the DCMD Project is also aligned with the Financial System Strategy (FSS) 2020 initiative which is aimed at making Nigeria one of the top 20 economies in the world by 2020.

The Project’s Governance Structure includes a project implementation team, consisting of three (3) levels of implementation committees – Steering, Transformation and Sub-Committees – charged with the responsibility of brainstorming on the initiatives required for stimulating the market’s development and executing the DCM Transformation Roadmap, drawing from the experience of benchmark jurisdictions (including Malaysia, Mexico, India, Singapore, South Africa, etc.) where their debt capital markets have successfully played the key role of supporting the growth and development of their countries’ economies. At the end of the DCMD Project, it is expected that the Nigerian DCM will surpass its peers in Africa in terms of diversity of products (including plain vanilla products and derivatives), liquidity, credibility and transparency and indeed position Nigeria as the ultimate investment destination in Africa.

FMDQ’s commitment to the transformation of the Nigerian financial markets is driven through its “GOLD” (Global Competitiveness, Operational Excellence, Liquidity and Diversity) Agenda which institutes the requisite financial market structures to drive transparency, governance, market oversight, credibility and market liquidity to power growth in the Nigerian financial markets with a view to protecting investor interests. The GOLD Agenda thus presents opportunities for reforms with far-reaching implications for the development of the Nigerian financial markets.