Abuja commodity exchange to take off next year

The Federal Government has commenced the process of transforming the Abuja Securities and Commodity Exchange (ASCE) into a first-class commodity exchange. The Managing Director of ASCE, Mr Yusuf Abdurrahim said this in Abuja during a stakeholders’ sensitisation workshop on the Revitalisation of the Exchange. Abdurrahim said that the transformation was expected to be completed by Nov. 2013.
According to him, the measure is part of the Ministry of Trade and Investment’s broader Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan. He disclosed that a new bill for the establishment of the Nigerian Independent Ware House Regulatory Agency would soon be sent to the National Assembly. He said that the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga, had already initiated reforms aimed at making ASCE a world-class institution in line with the transformation agenda of the present administration.
The managing director noted that the workshop was to sensitise stakeholders on the Commodity Exchange Projects and to discuss the various building blocks of a functional commodity exchange. “Already, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga, has initiated some reforms and is working to make the ASCE as viable, vibrant, and effective as possible to serve the needs of the Nigerian economy very efficiently,’’ he said. Mr Dauda Kigbu, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Trade and Investment said that the development of the Ware House Receipt System would boost the operations of the ASCE and help farmers overcome the problem of post-harvest losses.
“The Ware House Receipt System (WHR) is a basic infrastructure that will improve the operations of the ASCE. A WHR system enables farmers to use their stored commodities to secure credit from banks and other financial institutions,’’ he said. The permanent secretary stressed that storing commodities in standard warehouses would enable farmers avoid post-harvest losses and defer sales till the prices of their commodities appreciate.