The move to one-day settlement cycles and digital systems has made Nigeria's stock market faster and more reliable, Omoniyi Ajayi, chairman and group managing director of Financial Trust Company, said yesterday.
Ajayi spoke about how the Nigerian Exchange and market operators have overhauled their processes over the past two years. The T+1 settlement system, where trades settle the next business day instead of the old T+3 system, cut waiting times significantly. He said this change mattered because investors and traders get their money and assets faster, reducing the risk that deals fall through.
Digitalisation has done the same job for the back-office work that nobody sees but everyone depends on. Ajayi noted that automation replaced paper forms, spreadsheets, and manual processes that once slowed things down and left room for errors. Clearing and settlement now happen with fewer bottlenecks. Documents move electronically. Records stay accurate. The whole system works harder.
FTC itself pioneered indigenous stockbroking in Nigeria and has watched the market change over decades. Ajayi said the improvements matter most for retail investors, the thousands of Nigerians who trade small amounts. Faster settlement means they see their profits quicker. It also means brokers can manage their cash better and take on more clients without getting stuck waiting for money to move.
The Nigerian Exchange completed its T+1 rollout in 2023 after testing it with a handful of stocks. The exchange and the Central Securities Clearing System worked together to rebuild settlement workflows and train brokers on the new timelines. Banks had to upgrade their payment systems too. Ajayi said that coordination was the hardest part because everyone in the chain had to move at once.
He added that Nigeria now sits with other frontier markets that use T+1, putting the country closer to standards in developed exchanges. It also helps the bourse attract foreign investors who expect speed and reliability. The move signals that Nigeria takes market infrastructure seriously.
Ajayi stopped short of saying the work is finished. He said the NGX and CSCS need to keep improving settlement security and adding more digital features. Brokers like FTC will keep upgrading their own systems to match. The next phase could include full blockchain-based settlement, though that remains years away. For now, T+1 and digitalisation have given the market the boost it needed.
