SEC Pegs Amount To Be Raised From Digital Currency Offers At N10bn

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has pegged the maximum amount to be raised from Digital Assets Offering within 12 months at N10 billion.

The limit is contained in the Commission’s New Rules on Issuance, Offering Platforms and Custody of Digital Assets.

These rules, according to the Commission, would apply to issuers seeking to raise capital through digital asset offerings.

It defined Digital Asset as a digital token that represents assets such as a debt or equity claim on the issuer; and include Initial Coin offering and other Distributed Ledger Technology offers of digital assets.

The New Rules stated that the issuer must demonstrate that the gross proceeds to be raised from the digital asset offering would be sufficient to undertake the project as proposed in the white paper.

It said: “An issuer may only raise funds subject to the following limit: Twenty times the issuer’s shareholders’ funds i.e., the maximum quantum of funds permitted to be raised within any continuous 12 month period, subject to a ceiling of N10billion or any other ceiling as the Commission may determine from time to time.

“The issuer shall demonstrate that the gross proceeds to be raised from the digital asset offering would be sufficient to undertake the project as proposed in the white paper.

“In the event that the amount raised is below the soft-cap, the Issuer shall refund all monies collected from the token holders within five business days from the offer closing date.”

On the investment limit,the Commission stated in the document that a person may invest in an initial digital asset offering subject to the various limits.

For qualified institutional and high net worth investors, it noted that there will be no restriction on investment amount.

But for retail investors, the document fixed a maximum of N200,000 per issuer with a total investment limit not exceeding N2million within 12 months.

It said: “A person may invest in an initial digital asset offering subject to the following limits: “For qualified institutional and high networth investors, no restriction on investment amount; and for retail investors, a maximum of N200,000 per issuer with a total investment limit not exceeding N2 million within a 12-month period.”

Also, as the Russia-Ukraine crisis lingers, Nigeria and other African countries are set to launch a platform to aggregate essential commodities and afford African countries access to scarce commodities.The platform, known as the Africa Trade Exchange (ATEX), will pool-procure bulk basic commodities and ensure countries have access to scarce supplies in a transparent and equitable manner.

As a fall out of the Russia Ukraine crisis, India has banned the export of wheat while Indonesia has done same for palm oil.The platform will be anchored by AFREXIM Bank working with the AfCFTA Secretariat, and UNECA.This is contained in a statement issued by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

“ATEX represents only a fraction of Africa’s economic and innovative potential, but it promises a transformation in the continent’s approach to imports and trade,” UNECA said. Funding will come from “the African Development Bank’s $1.5 billion emergency food production plan to mitigate the effect of the Russia Ukraine war on food prices through rapid production of wheat, maize, rice and soybean”.

The UNECA described the ATEX as “a digital trade platform, which will complement the digital ecosystem constructed to support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement”.

ATEX, the United Nations agency added, “will help realise the development potential of e-commerce and digitalisation, particularly by facilitating access for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to the wider African market”.

This, it said, “will enhance intra-African trade and the African trade position in the global market, thus assisting in adjusting to disruptions in supply chains and continued growth of African businesses and economies”.

It added: “To support supply chain resilience, ATEX will digitally enable the trade of the main agricultural commodities and input imported by the continent from Russia and Ukraine: cereals (including wheat, maize, and grains), fertiliser and associated input, oils, oilseed, as well as other products and inputs critical to support agricultural value chains”.

The UNECA stated: “The platform will facilitate pooled procurement by African buyers of these commodities from African suppliers where possible, as in the case of fertiliser; and from outside the continent where necessary, as in the case of cereals and grains”.

This, the UNECA explained, would contribute “to the creation of new, continental supply chains which will insulate Africans from the volatility which has characterised recent years”.

According to the UNECA, “just like the solutions developed in the pandemic, ATEX constitutes an African innovation designed to address another crisis facing the continent – it is a measure which the broader internationalcommunity should support, and from which we can all learn”.The UNECA noted that “through this and other comparable programmes, Africa is demonstrating leadership and ownership over its own challenges”. “To say this is an African solution to an African problem is not to dismiss or discourage international collaboration – indeed, our global partners will be pivotal in ensuring that Africa is included in the conversation on supply chain resilience” the UNECA said. UNECA urged Africa to “develop a more secure and stable mechanism to obtain.

critical commodities and cultivate stronger intra-African links between suppliers”. The Russia-Ukraine crisis has increased the strain on critical supply chains in commodity markets.with current and expected price increases in agricultural products and inputs such as cereals and fertilisers. Aggregating Africa’s demand for these commodities will allow the continent to negotiate for competitive prices, especially for cereals and grains, at the same time assuring net food importers of the access and affordability of commodities like wheat and maize. UNECA also argues that, “aggregating fertiliser demand from importing countries can deliver African producers of inputs such as fertilisers, ensuring timeliness and affordability, and thereby reducing the risk of food shortages”