The FMDQ Derivatives Market Development Project (the “Project”) was activated in 2018 to break the ground and facilitate the launch of a standardised derivatives market in Nigeria. The Project was also created to cater to the risk and investment management needs of diverse market participants. Given the novelty of derivatives as an asset class in Nigeria, a Stakeholder Education and Sensitisation workstream was designated and activated by FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited (“FMDQ Exchange” or the “Exchange”), targeting investors and market participants.

FMDQ Exchange, through the FMDQ Academy (the “Academy”) franchise, kicked off a series of bespoke training sessions in April 2019. Since inception, over 2,600 participants have benefitted from the trainings and they include Financial Market Regulators, Financial Institutions, relevant Market Associations, Corporates, Media Practitioners, etc. The trainings are specially designed to address the diverse interests represented in the derivatives market and provide a holistic understanding of the market ahead of the official launch of the FMDQ Exchange-Traded Derivatives (ETD) market.

For the year 2022, some of the themes covered during the trainings include Understanding the ETD Market; Derivatives Market Regulation and Market Documentation; Derivatives Trading, Clearing and Market Operations; and Understanding FMDQ ETD Products. In addition to these trainings, various engagement sessions were held with key regulators in the industry including the Central Bank of Nigeria to ensure the pivotal ETD market takes off on a sure footing.

To ramp up the capacity building programme, FMDQ Exchange will on Thursday, June 23 and Friday, June 24, 2022, host another webinar themed “Derivatives Clearing Operations – Understanding the role of the CCP and Clearing Members”. The webinar, targeted at Treasury Operations functions, Clearing Operations functions, Risk Management functions of the banking sector, will introduce participants to the clearing operations, role of the central counterparty (CCP) and Clearing Members in the FMDQ ETDs market.

As a sustainable marketplace, these training sessions are consistent with the Exchange’s mission to enhance investor awareness of financial markets products. FMDQ Exchange will continue to equip its stakeholders with the necessary tools to effectively utilise its market to meet their investment goals, capturing opportunities and effectively managing their risk exposures.

FMDQ Group is Africa’s first vertically integrated financial market infrastructure (FMI) group, strategically positioned to provide registration, listing, quotation and noting services; integrated trading, clearing & central counterparty, settlement, and risk management for financial market transactions; depository of securities, as well as data and information services, across the debt capital, foreign exchange, derivatives and equity markets, through its wholly owned subsidiaries – FMDQ Exchange, FMDQ Clear Limited, FMDQ Depository Limited and FMDQ Private Markets Limited. As a sustainability-focused FMI group, FMDQ Group, through FMDQ Exchange, operates Africa’s premier Green Exchange – FMDQ Green Exchange – positioned to lead the transition towards a sustainable future.