Nigeria's capital market has taken its first regulated step into blockchain-based trading. The NASD OTC Securities Exchange has officially launched the NASD Digital Securities Platform (NDSP), making it the country's first exchange to offer a regulated market for the issuance and trading of tokenised securities, a milestone years in the making for Africa's largest economy.
The platform, now live, is powered by blockchain infrastructure developed by Blockstation Inc. and covers the full lifecycle of digital securities: issuance, trading, clearing, and settlement, all within what NASD describes as an institutional-grade environment. According to the Exchange, its inaugural public digital securities offering is scheduled for early September, with additional issuances and market announcements expected to follow in the months after.
Acting Managing Director and CEO of NASD, Chinwendu Ekeh, said the NDSP introduces greater transparency, more efficient issuance and trading processes, and modern market infrastructure designed to support the next generation of regulated capital markets. "We look forward to welcoming issuers, brokers and investors as this market continues to grow," she noted.
Blockstation CEO Jai Waterman added that Nigeria's young, entrepreneurial population presents a real opportunity to expand access to regulated markets, positioning the country as a serious player in Africa's digital capital formation story. Damola Akindolire of TK Tech Africa echoed this, noting that opening a new regulated market requires close collaboration between technology providers, operators, regulators, and industry participants, collaboration that has now laid a strong foundation for future digital securities issuances in Nigeria.
NASD says the launch is aimed at widening access to capital and modernising Nigeria's capital markets by using technology to deepen liquidity and broaden investor participation. The Exchange plans to actively engage issuers, brokers, issuing houses, institutional and retail investors, and SMEs as it expands the digital securities ecosystem in the coming months.This isn't just a product launch, it's the opening chapter of a new market. And Nigeria just wrote page one.The reforms happening in Nigeria's blockchain ecosystem today will not wait for the blockchain industry to catch up. The window is open but the windows close.This is the moment to engage, not observe.
SiBAN is at the intersection of blockchain innovation and financial policy. We are advocating, engaging, and building the regulatory framework that will determine how Nigeria's digital asset industry grows in the years ahead. Be part of the advocacy that matters. Send an email to [email protected] and join our Telegram Channel.
