The Federal Government has set an ambitious target to more than triple the number of retail investors participating in Nigeria’s capital market, from about six million currently to 20 million by 2036, while seeking to increase the number of listed companies from 146 to 250.
The targets form part of the Nigerian Capital Market Master Plan 2026–2036, unveiled at the National Capital Market Conference in Abuja, as the government seeks to make the capital market a larger source of long-term financing for businesses, infrastructure and economic development.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed the targets at the conference, saying the government wants to broaden participation in the market while attracting more Nigerian-owned businesses to list on the Nigerian Exchange.
Under the proposed plan, the government also wants equity market capitalisation to rise from about 33 per cent of gross domestic product to at least 60 per cent.
The targets represent a substantial expansion of Nigeria’s formal investment ecosystem and are designed to mobilise more domestic savings into productive investments rather than leaving households and businesses dependent primarily on banks and other traditional sources of finance.
Government wants 14 million more retail investors
Moving from six million retail investors to 20 million would require the market to attract approximately 14 million additional investors over the next decade.
That represents an increase of about 233 per cent from the current baseline.
The government believes a much larger domestic investor base would provide Nigerian businesses with greater access to local capital and reduce the concentration of investment activity among a relatively small segment of the population.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has similarly acknowledged that growth in the size of Nigeria’s capital market has not necessarily translated into sufficiently broad participation by Nigerians.
SEC Director-General Emomotimi Agama said the strength of a capital market ultimately depends on the savings of its people, stressing the need for the Nigerian market to become more inclusive.
The challenge is therefore not simply to increase the value of shares traded on the exchange but to encourage more Nigerians to become participants through equities, bonds, collective investment schemes and other regulated financial products.
National Savings Scheme launched
One of the initiatives announced alongside the master plan is the National Savings Scheme, which is intended to encourage Nigerians to put their savings into regulated financial products through more accessible channels.
Oyedele said the scheme would make it possible for Nigerians to participate through channels including mobile phones.
The initiative comes against the backdrop of concerns over how some young Nigerians currently deploy their savings and disposable income.
The finance minister specifically expressed concern about Nigerians putting money into betting platforms, unregulated cryptocurrency schemes and Ponzi schemes instead of regulated investment products.
The government plans to strengthen surveillance of fraudulent investment schemes and introduce measures aimed at supporting victims.
The emphasis on accessibility is significant because one of the barriers to wider capital-market participation is the difficulty many potential investors face when attempting to understand, access and use formal investment platforms.
The master plan is expected to support measures designed to simplify investor onboarding, improve custody arrangements and settlement systems, and make investment channels more accessible.
There is also a proposal for a single investor identification number and investment channels that could operate through mobile networks and fintech platforms.
Listed companies targeted to rise from 146 to 250
The government is also targeting a significant increase in the number of companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange.
The current baseline under the capital-market master plan is 146 listed companies. The government wants that figure to reach 250 by 2036.
That means Nigeria would need to add 104 listed companies, equivalent to an increase of about 71.2 per cent.
The government, however, does not intend to force private companies to list.
Oyedele said the Federal Government would instead use incentives to persuade privately owned Nigerian businesses to access the public capital market.
“We cannot force them. We would encourage Nigerian private businesses to list. We will use incentives to attract them,” Oyedele said, according to reports from the conference.
The government has yet to provide full details of what those incentives would look like, which companies would qualify or when the measures would take effect.
Why more companies are needed
Increasing the number of listed companies would give investors more opportunities to spread their investments across different sectors of the Nigerian economy.
It would also allow businesses to raise equity capital from a wider pool of investors rather than relying exclusively on bank loans, retained earnings or private investors.
For companies, an initial public offering can provide capital for expansion while giving existing shareholders a mechanism for selling part of their holdings.
However, becoming a publicly listed company also brings additional obligations.
Listed businesses are required to meet regulatory and disclosure requirements, publish financial information and comply with corporate governance standards.
For privately owned businesses that have historically operated with limited public disclosure, those obligations can represent a significant change in how they are managed.
The Nigerian Exchange has different market segments, including its Growth Board, which provides an avenue for eligible smaller and growth-oriented businesses.
The success of the government's proposed incentives will therefore depend partly on whether they can make the benefits of listing sufficiently attractive to business owners while addressing concerns about compliance costs, ownership dilution and greater public scrutiny.
NNPC and NLNG could deepen the market
Oyedele also identified potential listings of major Nigerian companies, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), as opportunities to deepen the capital market.
The proposed listings could potentially increase the number of large companies available to investors while broadening public participation in major national assets.
Such listings could also improve transparency around the companies and create additional investment opportunities for both domestic and international investors.
However, these remain proposals and would require government decisions, regulatory approvals and appropriate transaction structures before any listing could take place.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Capital Market, Osita Izunaso, has also called for the listing of NNPC and major telecommunications companies.
He pointed to the enormous difference between Nigeria's corporate population and the relatively small number of companies listed on the exchange. Nigeria has more than five million registered companies, according to figures cited at the conference, compared with roughly 150 listed firms.
Government wants a $1 trillion capital market
The investor and listing targets are part of an even larger ambition.
Oyedele said Nigeria should target a $1 trillion capital market within the next decade, arguing that a deep and functioning capital market would be important to the country's broader economic ambitions.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has a separate target of growing the capital market from approximately ₦250 trillion to ₦750 trillion by 2036.
The two figures reflect different ways of framing the market's future size, with the finance minister arguing for a more ambitious dollar-denominated goal.
The SEC's master plan is structured around five broad areas: regulatory clarity and enforcement, modern market infrastructure, diversification of investment products and issuance, a broader investor base, and stronger institutional and professional capacity.
The objective is not simply to make the Nigerian Exchange bigger but to make the capital market a more important mechanism for financing economic activity.
Equity market capitalisation has already expanded
The government says Nigeria's capital market has already recorded substantial growth since 2023.
According to Oyedele, equity market capitalisation has increased from less than ₦30 trillion in mid-2023 to approximately ₦160 trillion, while pension assets have reached about ₦27.5 trillion.
The SEC's master-plan baseline provides a more specific figure of ₦146.5 trillion in equity market capitalisation, equivalent to approximately 33 per cent of nominal GDP, alongside 146 listed companies.
The difference between the figures reflects different reference points and measures used in reporting the market's size.
The government's objective is to convert this market expansion into deeper participation by ordinary Nigerians and greater access to capital for companies.
Corporate bonds and Sukuk also targeted
The master plan extends beyond the stock market.
Oyedele has proposed increasing corporate bond issuance to more than three times its current share of GDP.
The government also wants to increase Sukuk market penetration from about 0.3 per cent to at least five per cent of GDP.
Pension assets are targeted to increase from approximately six per cent to 16 per cent of GDP.
These targets indicate that the government sees the capital market as much broader than a platform for buying and selling company shares.
A deeper bond market could give companies another way to raise long-term financing, while a larger Sukuk market could expand access to Islamic finance.
Similarly, stronger pension assets could provide a larger pool of institutional capital for infrastructure and other long-term investments.
Nigeria also wants to attract international capital
The government is simultaneously seeking to improve Nigeria's standing among international investors.
Oyedele said Nigeria is targeting an investment-grade credit rating within three years and wants the country to move from frontier-market status toward emerging-market classification.
He also cited Nigeria's reinstatement in the FTSE Russell Frontier Market Index and efforts to regain inclusion in major international government-bond benchmarks.
The government has also engaged global index provider MSCI and international credit-rating agencies as part of the effort.
Achieving those ambitions would depend on sustained economic and financial reforms, market liquidity, investor confidence and the ability of foreign investors to reliably move funds into and out of Nigeria.
Implementation will be closely monitored
The scale of the targets means implementation will be crucial.
The SEC says the master plan will have implementation committees responsible for monitoring progress.
Agama said every commitment under the Nigerian Capital Market Master Plan 2.0 would have an identified owner, timeline and scorecard, with progress expected to be reported publicly.
That monitoring framework is intended to prevent the 10-year plan from becoming simply another set of policy objectives without measurable outcomes.
The master plan follows the previous Nigerian Capital Market Master Plan covering 2015–2025, making the new document the next long-term framework for market development.
The challenge is turning targets into participation
The government's targets are substantial: 20 million retail investors, 250 listed companies, equity capitalisation equivalent to at least 60 per cent of GDP and a much larger overall capital market by 2036.
But achieving them will require more than regulatory announcements.
For retail participation to grow, Nigerians need confidence that their investments are protected, investment products need to be accessible and understandable, and fraudulent schemes need to be effectively tackled.
For companies, the proposed incentives will need to make listing sufficiently attractive to overcome concerns about compliance costs, disclosure requirements and loss of control.
The market will also need sufficient liquidity. Simply increasing the number of listed companies does not automatically guarantee that their shares will attract investors or that businesses will raise significant amounts of fresh capital.
Similarly, increasing the number of registered investment accounts does not necessarily mean Nigerians are actively investing significant amounts of money.
The government's own emphasis on domestic savings suggests that the quality and depth of participation will be just as important as the headline number of investors.
If successfully implemented, however, the master plan could gradually shift Nigeria toward a financial system in which more household savings are channelled into productive businesses and infrastructure.
For now, the 20 million-investor and 250-company targets remain 2036 ambitions, with the government expected to use incentives, digital access, new investment products and regulatory reforms to move the market toward those goals.
