I got sent a notice sent in by the FTSE Russell index, owned by the ailing London Exchange, and asked for my comments
The notice was sent by a top official at the NGX seeking my position on it
In the notice, the FTSE Russell, which tracks only about $40m of our $200b market, was threatening to review our status as a frontier market, which, according to them, was supposed to be firmed up later this year
The issue on the table is the SEC-induced T+1 settlement
For those of you who don’t know, T+1 is the time it takes for transactions to settle on the NGX
When I was trading, it was T+3, meaning it would take three days for the trade to be settled and for the monies to be crossed and paid, during which you could not take a position in shares you already owned.
It used to be two weeks for what we used to call up-country cheques, but today Dr Agama’s SEC has pushed it to T+1 with the vision of achieving a T+O in a few years
What this means is that it will ramp up market efficiency, boost Liquidity, and pull in more investors
It is the same initiative that the FTSE, all the way from London, has come to poo-poo, claiming that it would push the market into a pre-funding mode
Mbok, a pre-funding mode that their foreign investors are already practising with T-Bills and other such open market operations in our money markets?
When I saw the notice, I felt something was amiss, and I went digging
I found out something very interesting
Two major capital market players enjoy the float that comes from the T+2 scenario
So let me explain – A foreign investor sends in dollars, and the funds are transferred to the Custodian, who now arbitrates and plays with it for the two days it takes to settle before moving to necessary positions
This way, billions are made by the Custodians who cannot survive with just their fees and need this float to keep afloat literally
It’s just the same thing with the Registrars who are only alive cos of unclaimed Dividends and float on Dividends bf they are paid out
The Registrar business in my mind is DEAD, as one policy could wipe out the entire thing which could be anytime from now.
Some front-looking Registrars are already looking at the possibility of transitioning into Data processing
So in the same vein, the T+1 policy wipes out a clear lifeline for the Custodian business, and they will shout, and they have been shouting
This is a clear case of saving one twin and losing the other twin
Just as the SEC is looking at reducing barriers in the market by shoring up efficiency, it would have to grapple with the loss of jobs and other such unintended effects on the Custodian industry, which it would be throwing up
Some very strategic observers have pointed a finger at the Custodian industry as the ones playing the voice of Esau to the FTSE Russell ‘attack ‘, and I believe.
Who would not fight back if you see your lifeline being snatched in your very eye, so they push towards lightweight FTSE Russell, who now comes out with Scud Missile that takes off like Saddam’s own and fires away in the sky with little or no impact.
Let me, say something at this point
Nigeria, with its ongoing reforms, has achieved a B+ S&P rating, a much more credible rating than this mumu FTSE
As the reforms continue to kick in, especially with the efforts of Mr Oyedele, the Finance Minister, Nigeria is hoping to hit a double B rating
Our foreign Reserves are at its hieghest, and our GDP is also at its highest since the ObJ era
What is left is for these gains to start trickling down to the people, and by this, I do not mean the Akara and Kulikuli type, but a robust economic gain that will hit the poverty level and pull millions out
So who are these FTSE Russell Bandits?
As I said, they are owned by the London Stock Exchange, which in 2024 alone lost 88 listings as against 18 new listings
The LSE has, for the last few years, lost over 800 companies as a result of a myriad of challenges that they are facing, including but not limited to long term post Brexit issues
Take, for example, the 2,365 listed companies in 2015, which dropped to 1,056 in 2024
New listings are rushing to New York, where Liquidity is more assured, and valuations are better priced
Instead of them facing their challenges, they are now coming to us to be sabre-rattling when our market at $200b is running at full throttle, and we have not yet listed Dangote Refinery oo
See, Johannesburg is doing T+1, and maybe Egypt, they have not gone there to dance Michael Jackson o, it is here they want to come and do xenophobic dance
My strong opinion is for us to call their bluff, let them get on with their frontier market listing and let us concentrate on building a vibrant economy and transparency within our markets, and no investor worth their salt would come and be listening to a kwashiokor-riddled rating platform that has more on its plate than it can ever grapple with.
Mbok, they should come and beat me, I am tired . Crap
Duke of Shomolu
Last modified: July 2, 2026
