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The Federal Government has proposed a regional capital market framework that would allow companies and governments to raise funds.

The Federal Government has proposed a regional capital market framework that would allow companies and governments to raise funds across 10 West African countries without obtaining separate regulatory approvals in each market.

The proposal, presented by the Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, at the S&P Global Ratings Africa Summit in Lagos yesterday, is aimed at removing barriers to cross-border investment and improving access to long-term financing for infrastructure and economic growth.

Oyedele said fragmented capital markets across the region had limited the ability of countries to mobilise the scale of funding required for development, noting that no single market was deep enough to meet the region’s financing needs.

Under the proposed framework, an issuer approved by regulators in one participating country would be able to raise capital in other member markets without going through separate approval processes.

The arrangement, described as a regional “passport” regime, is expected to make it easier for governments and companies to access investors across the region.

Nigeria is also proposing a unified investor identification system that would allow investors registered in one country to buy bonds and equities in other participating markets without repeating registration and verification procedures.

Oyedele said the reforms would be complemented by the integration of regional trading, settlement and payment systems, allowing securities transactions to be settled directly in local currencies and reducing dependence on the United States dollar.

Other proposals include establishing a regional local-currency bond index and a credit enhancement facility to support cross-border infrastructure financing.

The proposed integration covers Nigeria, Ghana and eight French-speaking countries that use the CFA franc and share a common central bank. They are Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.

Oyedele said existing initiatives, including the West African Capital Markets Integration Council, the African Exchanges Linkage Project and the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), provide a foundation for deeper regional integration.

“The task now is to join these pieces together,” he said.

On Nigeria’s domestic capital market, the minister said the government was targeting

investment-grade credit ratings within three years and a market capitalisation of at least $1 trillion over the next decade.