The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says the shift to a T+1 settlement cycle in Nigeria’s capital market has proceeded smoothly, boosting market competitiveness and easing pressure on participants.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja at the weekend, SEC Director-General Dr. Emomotimi Agama, represented by the Director of Registration, Exchanges and Market Infrastructure, Mrs. Hafsat Rufai, said feedback from both local and international investors had been overwhelmingly positive.
She said initial concerns centred on whether investors, particularly those in different time zones, would have enough time to source cash for settlement given that Nigeria’s market closes at 4:00 p.m. local time, sometimes very early or very late in the day elsewhere.
But with the settlement deadline set at 5:00 p.m. rather than 8:00 a.m., custodian banks representing investors now have adequate time to arrange funds and securities under the delivery versus payment framework, she explained.
Agama noted that no defaults linked to unavailability of settlement funds had been recorded since the change took effect, describing the rollout so far as smooth and well received.
He said Nigeria’s capital market had operated a T+3 settlement cycle for years before a phased modernisation drive moved it to T+2 on November 28, 2025, and then to T+1 on June 1, 2026, changes aimed at improving liquidity, competitiveness and reducing settlement risk.
Under T+1, he explained, shares bought on a trade day, for instance a Monday, settle into the buyer’s account by 5:00 p.m. the following day, a significant improvement from the previous system where settlement could take up to three days.
He added that the shift in settlement deadline from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. followed an earlier extension of NGX trading hours from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., which made an 8:00 a.m. next-day settlement deadline impractical, as it would have left market participants with almost no time to arrange funds, akin to same day settlement.
