Nigeria’s Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) now holds roughly 6 million investor accounts, but only about 10% are active.
GTI Group CEO Abubakar Lawal, disclosed this while speaking at this year’s workshop of the Capital Market Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CAMCAN), noting that the gap must be closed if the Investments and Securities Act (ISA) 2025 is to help finance the government’s ambitious $1 trillion target by 2030.
“There are 6 million people on the CSCS platform and just about 10% of them are active,” Lawal said, urging market operators and regulators present at the event to convert passive registrations into everyday market participants through education, better products and wider access.
According to him, Nigeria is one of the world’s youngest nations with a median age near 18 years and more than half the population under 30 and is already a digitally connected market, counting over 100 million internet users at the start of 2025.
Those demographics, he said, represent fertile ground for mass investor mobilisation if regulators and operators can translate digital adoption into regulated market participation.
ISA 2025: the legal base for mass participation
The theme of this year’s CAMCAN annual workshop is “Regulatory Reforms: ISA 2025 & Nigeria;s Investment Climate.” In his presentation delivered by a representative, Lawal described ISA 2025 as the legal foundation to widen access.
The investment expert noted that the ISA 2025 formally recognises digital and virtual assets as securities, legitimises crowdfunding and investment contracts, creates specialised (composite and non-composite) exchanges, and expands eligible issuers — from free-trade-zone entities to government agencies — while strengthening the Securities and Exchange Commission’s powers. Those changes, he said, lower structural barriers to participation and create new, regulated channels for savings and investment.
Under the ISA, regulated crowdfunding and new issuance vehicles, including broadened Sukuk and non-interest instruments for states and local governments, can channel household savings into long-term infrastructure projects.
Lawal argued that doing so will build the roads, power plants and ports that boost productivity and unlock private investment, creating a multiplier effect toward the $1 trillion target.
PwC and other advisers note that the Act’s provisions are explicitly aimed at deepening markets and widening investor choice.
Data from market infrastructure shows transaction volumes are rising, suggesting latent demand. CSCS reported notable growth in securities transactions in 2025 even as the investor base remains shallow.
It will continue to be 10% of the 6 million untill Stockbrokers and Registrar’s stop duplicating CHN for clients. They open new CHN at will, even when you give them the one you have they will open another one unless you insist. Check some Stockbrokers registration form, no column for CHN and CSCS number. No body is penelising them.