Stock market participation in Africa remains extremely low. A report published in Nigeria by Nairametrics some months ago indicated that there were about 5 (five) million Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) accounts in Nigeria, of which only about 100,000 were active. That means that less than 2% of Nigerians have CSCS accounts at all, and only 0.05% of the population were active on the Nigerian Stock market. Of course the picture is similar across most African countries.  While this is so, we have come across a lot of questions from people recently requesting to understand how to get started participating in the Stock market and investing in shares of quoted companies. This article is an attempt to provide a response to such requests and help get as many people as possible get started in their wealth creation journey. The Stock market is where securities or stocks or shares of Publicly listed Companies are traded every working day. In Nigeria, to participate in trading such...

    Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc Opened Series 15 – 16 Commercial Paper Issuance Worth Up to ₦50 Billion- Closes on the 15th of October. Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc has commenced its Series 15 & 16 Commercial Paper (CP) issuance, aiming to raise up to ₦50 billion as part of its ₦300 billion Commercial Paper Issuance Programme. A subsidiary of Dangote Industries Limited, the company specializes in refining, distributing, and marketing granulated sugar to wholesalers and major clients across various sectors. The current offer, which opened on Monday 13th of October, is expected to close on Wednesday, October 15, 2025.  With an installed refining capacity of 1.49 million metric tonnes annually, DSR remains the largest sugar refiner in Sub-Saharan Africa. The company has set its sights on producing an additional 1.5 million metric tonnes of refined sugar using domestically cultivated sugarcane, advancing its strategy to become a globally competitive, fully integrated sugar p...

Augustine Azuka "Jay-Jay" Okocha, according to Wikipedia, is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. B orn 14 August 1973,  he had 73 caps for the Nigeria national team between 1993 and 2006, scoring 14 goals, and was a member of three FIFA World Cup squads. He is regarded as one of the greatest African footballers of all time and one of the most influential dribblers in World football history. He played across multiple leagues, starting his career at Enugu Rangers in the Nigerian Professional Football League before moving to Borussia Neunkirchen in the Oberliga Südwest, Germany's third division, in July 1990. He played in the Bundesliga, Süper Lig, Ligue 1, Premier League, EFL Championship, and Qatar Stars League before his retirement in 2008. But behind the flair lies the untold story: the pressures of fame, the silence after retirement, and the hard financial lessons every African player must learn. We recently saw an interview ...

  In trying to build wealth we are usually told that it starts with saving, that is paying yourself first before making expenses. Save, save, save. Then we are told that after saving, investing is the next step. Recently the Tony Elumelu Foundation posted a video on their social media page where their Chairman, Mr Tony Elumelu reiterated the same steps for budding entrepreneurs who were gathered together in one of their training programs, emphasizing the need to save and delay gratification, then invest, as a means of breaking the chain of poverty and moving up the ladder. Undoubtedly these are golden principles which are tested and trusted, and have stood the test of time.  However in the execution of these principles, sometimes we fall into another trap, the trap of falling in love with a fat bank account or cash in hand. A growing or fat bank account especially as a result of saving usually gives a sense of fulfilment and a high level of confidence, making one forget that s...

  Nigerian Banks have finally started publishing their half year (H1) results from late this past week, mostly owing to the delays they experienced getting approvals for their results from Regulatory bodies (mostly the CBN). The delay which had created a long period of suspense for shareholders and the investing public was mostly more noticeable this year owing to the Forbearance issue that was raised by the CBN in a dreaded letter to all banks in June . That letter raised a lot of speculations from several analysts about the health of Nigerian banks and their ability to continue with dividend payments in the near term. Some banks had to address the issue with the public, reassuring investors while others kept mute. On the 18th of September Zenith Bank PLC blazed the trail and released their half year report, which was then followed by United Bank for Africa (UBA). Although prior to then Ecobank and Wema bank had released theirs, however, they do not belong to the lot that pay inte...

  Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc Opened Series 13 – 14 Commercial Paper Issuance Worth Up to ₦50 Billion- Closes on the 3rd of June. Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc has commenced its Series 13 & 14 Commercial Paper (CP) issuance, aiming to raise up to ₦50 billion as part of its ₦300 billion Commercial Paper Issuance Programme. A subsidiary of Dangote Industries Limited, the company specializes in refining, distributing, and marketing granulated sugar to wholesalers and major clients across various sectors. The current offer, which opened recently, is expected to close on Wednesday, September 03, 2025.  With an installed refining capacity of 1.49 million metric tonnes annually, DSR remains the largest sugar refiner in Sub-Saharan Africa. The company has set its sights on producing an additional 1.5 million metric tonnes of refined sugar using domestically cultivated sugarcane, advancing its strategy to become a globally competitive, fully integrated sugar producer through backward i...

If there is one stock that has generated a lot of buzz lately, it would be Ellah Lakes PLC. For investors who see potential in the company following the recent spectacular performances of companies in similar sector (Okomu and Presco) and are willing to take or have taken on a long position, for speculators and traders who are riding on the sector's boom to make quick capital appreciation, and for non believers in the company who make a case with past performance and do not believe in any near term breath of fresh air in the horizon, the buzz has continued to intensify. Are any of the groups right? That might not really matter, as long as whichever route one has followed aligns with one's investment philosophy. Ellah Lakes PLC is a growing indigenous agribusiness company. Established in 1980 as a fish farming enterprise, the company underwent a strategic shift in 2019 following the acquisition of Telluria Limited. It repositioned itself as a vertically integrated agro-industria...

On the 28th of August, 2025, the investing public woke up to a publication from Access Holdings PLC (Accesscorp), the parent company of Access Bank PLC, announcing the appointment of a substantive Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer. This distantly follows the demise of the former GMD/CEO, Herbert Wigwe, one of the cofounders of the bank and holding company on February 9, 2024, more than 18 months ago.  Immediately following his demise, Ms Bolaji Agbede was then appointed as Acting Group Managing Director/CEO of Access Holdings PLC to manage and ensure stability of the corporation, a position she held until August 27 when the new announcement was made.  According to the publication which was made available to the Nigerian Exchange group, Access Holdings PLC appointed Mr Innocent Ike as the substantive Group Managing Director/Chief Executive officer of the company with effect from August 29, 2025 following the receipt of regulatory approval. He succeeds Ms Bolaji Ag...

 There is an observation that has been pretty concerning lately regarding a personal finance subject for the younger generation, especially Millennials, Gen Zs and younger. And it is the subject of "Pension". It appears that a huge part of the younger generation in Nigeria who are of working age are not on any form of pension plan, and these include both the employed, underemployed and unemployed. If you take a sample of size of Nigerian youths today and ask them if they are on a pension plan, most likely more than 70% would confirm in the negative. This should be concerning for a country like Nigeria with more than 38% of her population between the ages of 20 and 49, and even a higher percentage of her population younger than 20 years. It might interest you know that a number of this demography who are employed in Micro, Small or Medium enterprises do not have any statutory pension contribution commitments from the organization, neither are they interested in the subject the...

  In  a previous article we wrote about a Passive Investment option known as Money Market Funds, which you can check out here if you have not. In this article, we want to bring to light another passive investment option known as Commercial Papers. Of course, they are passive in that after making the investment you do not require any further activity or work for them to yield interest or dividends for you. Essentially, your money works for you. So we ask again like in our previous article, do you have some idle funds sitting in your bank accounts or under your bed for several weeks or months? Are you saving up for a project in a few months and just piling it up in a bank account? That six months savings you have been told to set aside to serve as emergency fund in case of loss of your job or something else, do you have it lying idle somewhere? If your answer is positive then you might want to consider Commercial Papers. What are Commercial Papers?  Commercial papers are...

On the 2nd and 3rd of July, 2025, GTCO, the parent company of Guaranty Trust Bank, announced that it is set to list its shares for trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) by 8am July 9, 2025, making it the first financial services institution in West Africa to achieve this feat. At a time when most Nigerian banks are struggling with the recent CBN Circular on Non Performing Loans and forbearance , GTCO once again proves that it is a trailblazer in the Financial sector by making this unprecedented move. This is not GTCO's first foray to the LSE, as it had previously listed its GDR (Global Depository Receipts) there since 2021 or so, which it is about to wind up though.  But what's in it for Shareholders and Investors? The group concurrently launched a public offer of new ordinary shares to raise $105 million on the London Stock Exchange between July 2 and July 30, through an Accelerated Book Build managed my Citigroup. According to BusinessDay news, "a n accelerated book...

The news of Alhaji Aminu Alhassan Dantata's death at the age of 94 hit the Nigerian news media on the 28th of June, 2025. Several condolence messages have since been extended from friends and well wishers to his large family, including Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Nigeria's foremost business man, whose uncle he was.  Aminu Dantata was what Nigerians would call "Old Money", a man who broke through as early as in the 1960s, at a very young age. Although he was from a wealthy lineage, it still takes a lot to not just sustain wealth but to grow it. Just like the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, during his lifetime Aminu Dantata could be regarded as the proverbial Oracle of Kano, a prominent northern Nigerian state, with a good number of business and political leaders and aspiring figures within and outside the country paying homage to him regularly and seeking his counsel. He was involved in several businesses spanning across Trading, construction, Real estate, manufacturing, ba...

In an interesting and surprising announcement, on the 1st of July, 2025 Japaul Gold and Ventures PLC appointed new board members at their 20th Annual General Meeting, and named one of them as Chairman to take over the reigns from the pioneer Chairman, now outgoing, Paul Jegede. The newly appointed Board members are Mr David Dawson, Engineer Francis Ekeng, and Mr Segun Oloketuyi, of which the latter was named as the new Chairman of the board. According to the announcement, " Japaul Gold & Ventures PLC is proud to announce a transformative phase in its corporate governance and strategic direction with the appointment of Mr Segun Oloketuyi as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors, alongside the onboarding of Mr Francis Ekeng as Non-Executive Director and the confirmation of Mr David Dawson as the new Managing Director. This development marks a pivotal moment in the Company's evolution, as it positions itself to capitalize on emerging opportunities in gold exploration, mi...

Have You Ever Bought Shares In Nigerian Companies in the past? Public offer (Primary) or Secondary Market? Then this is for you. Several Nigerians participate in Public offers of Nigerian publicly listed companies without going further to register with stockbrokers. For instance, the last MTN public offer in 2022 had over 126,000 investors, according to MTN  and Premium Times , but I would be surprised if up to half of such investors have done anything further after that investment. Similarly, GTCO recently did a public offer with not less than 130,000 domestic investors participating in it as reported by Guardian News .  If you have ever participated in buying shares of Nigerian companies, chances are that you might have unpaid dividends waiting for you to claim (Free bucks, yeah!). Whether it was through an Initial Public offer, Public offer or bought from the Secondary market, if the company had ever declared dividends after your purchase then you are likely eligible to be ...