nasd

Here is a mistake many Nigerians make without knowing it. Someone buys shares in a company that is not on the Nigerian Exchange, maybe through a cooperative or a private placement, and years later they try to sell and find there is no proper market for those shares. They call around, ask family friends who might want to buy, and basically hope. That awkward, informal scramble is exactly the gap NASD was built to close.

NASD stands for Nigerian Autonomous Securities Exchange, though most people just say NASD. It is a platform, regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, where shares of unlisted public companies can be traded properly. These are companies that are too big and too public to be private, but have not gone through the process of listing on the main exchange in Lagos.

Think of a Nigerian agricultural company that raised money from thousands of shareholders through a public offer years ago but never listed on the main exchange. Without NASD, those shareholders would be stuck holding paper with no easy way to sell. With NASD, there is a proper platform, registered brokers, and actual price discovery, so someone in Kano or someone in London who inherited shares from a parent can find out what they are worth and sell them if they choose.

The diaspora angle matters here too. Nigerians abroad sometimes inherit or are gifted shares in companies they have never heard trade anywhere. Before checking whether it is listed on the main exchange, it is worth checking NASD, because plenty of legitimate, older Nigerian companies live there calmly, doing their business away from the bright lights of the main board.