For the primary time, on a regular basis Nigerian traders surpassed institutional traders in Q1 2024, capturing 1.1% extra of capital markets investments than the latter. It is a sign of a rising urge for food for wealth creation amongst on a regular basis customers. But, regardless of this momentum, the market’s progress stays constrained by funding platforms that aren’t user-friendly, based on a brand new report from product analysis agency Test.
The report discovered that 80% of retail funding platforms in Nigeria fall under international usability requirements, citing sluggish, clunky, and complicated consumer experiences. This poor design pushes first-time traders away from credible platforms and into riskier options like Ponzi schemes and crypto scams.
In response to the report, Nigerians have misplaced ₦90 billion to Ponzi schemes within the final two years, and greater than ₦1 trillion up to now 25 years, underscoring the price of weak investor schooling and poor digital experiences that fail to retain retail customers on reputable platforms.
“The following wave of market leaders shall be those that construct seamless, mobile-first experiences that empower rising traders via pace, simplicity, and schooling,” mentioned Lanre Wright, Head of Innovation and Progress at Test, within the report.
The report exhibits that Nigeria’s retail buying and selling quantity jumped from ₦618.79 billion in 2020 to ₦2.31 trillion in 2024, pushed by macroeconomic pressures, improved cellular entry, rising monetary literacy, enticing curiosity choices, and stronger market efficiency. This marks a 106.3% year-on-year improve from 2023.
Nonetheless, energetic participation stays low: fewer than 500,000 Nigerians out of three million registered capital market traders actively commerce. That determine lags behind platforms like PiggyVest and crypto apps, which have 5 million and three million customers, respectively, highlighting how capital market platforms proceed to lose floor within the battle for retail investor consideration.
Test’s usability audit of 10 do-it-yourself (DIY) funding platforms discovered that solely two met the worldwide usability benchmark rating of 68. The remainder suffered from clunky Know-Your-Buyer (KYC) processes, complicated navigation, cluttered interfaces, and an absence of embedded consumer steering, points that erode belief and push customers towards casual or riskier options.
For Nigeria’s capital funding market to be extra accessible, the report concludes, funding platforms have to put money into consumer belief by constructing out seamless consumer experiences of their digital backends.
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