Nigeria Proposes West African Capital Market Reforms to Boost Cross-Border Investment
The proposals include a regional market passport, unified investor identification and stronger links between trading, settlement and payment systems.
Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele says deeper integration could make it easier for investors and companies to access capital across 10 West African markets.
November 10, 2026
LAGOS, Nigeria — Nigeria has proposed a series of regional capital market reforms aimed at making it easier for investors to trade bonds and other securities across West Africa, as the government seeks to unlock more long-term funding for infrastructure and economic growth.
Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele announced the proposals at the S&P Global Ratings Africa Summit in Lagos on Tuesday, saying fragmented capital markets across the region were limiting access to the scale of financing needed for major infrastructure projects and broader economic development.
The proposed reforms would cover 10 countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
Regional Market Passport Proposed
One of the central proposals is a regional "passport" system that would allow companies or other issuers approved to raise capital in one participating market to access investors in other participating markets without seeking separate regulatory approvals in every country.
The proposal could reduce regulatory barriers and make it easier for businesses and governments to reach a wider pool of investors when raising funds.
Oyedele said the current fragmentation of West African capital markets meant that no single market was sufficiently deep to attract the scale of investment required for major infrastructure and economic development projects. Greater integration, he argued, could help connect investors with opportunities across the region.
Unified Investor Identification System
Nigeria is also advocating for a unified investor identification system.
Under the proposed arrangement, an investor registered in one participating market could potentially buy bonds and equities in other regional markets without repeating the entire registration and onboarding process.
The proposal is intended to simplify cross-border investment and reduce some of the administrative barriers that currently exist between national markets.
Oyedele also called for stronger links between regional trading, settlement and payment infrastructure. Such connections could allow securities transactions to be settled directly in local currencies, reducing reliance on the U.S. dollar for some cross-border financial transactions.
Building on Existing Regional Initiatives
The Finance Minister said existing initiatives could provide a foundation for deeper market integration.
These include the West African Capital Markets Integration Council, the African Exchanges Linkage Project and the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, commonly known as PAPSS.
The challenge now, Oyedele said, is to bring these initiatives together more effectively to create stronger connections between regional markets.
Additional proposals include creating a regional local-currency bond index and establishing a credit enhancement facility to support cross-border infrastructure financing.
A regional bond index could provide investors with a clearer benchmark for tracking local-currency debt markets, while a credit enhancement facility could potentially help reduce financing risks associated with large projects.
Nigeria's Wider Capital Market Ambitions
The proposals form part of Nigeria's broader effort to attract domestic and international investment and strengthen its capital markets.
Oyedele said Nigeria is aiming to achieve investment-grade credit ratings within three years. The country is also targeting a capital market valued at least $1 trillion under a 10-year capital market development plan.
However, the regional reforms remain proposals and would require cooperation among participating governments, regulators, exchanges and financial institutions before they could be implemented.
For Nigeria and its West African neighbours, the plan represents an effort to move beyond separate national markets toward a more connected regional financial system. If successfully implemented, the reforms could give investors easier access to opportunities across borders while providing governments and businesses with access to a broader pool of long-term capital.