Gambling, Crypto’s Grip on Nigerians Is Hurting Capital Markets

Nigerians’ preference for plowing their money into gambling and cryptocurrencies rather than the capital market is denying the nation of funds that could be used to build key infrastructure, the head of the financial regulator said.

More than a fourth of the country’s nearly 240 million people are staking a combined $5.5 million daily in gambling, against less than three million investing in the capital market, Securities and Exchange Commission Director-General Emomotimi Agama said in emailed statement. On top of that, many young people with access to digital platforms are piling into cryptocurrencies, with more than $50 billion worth of transactions conducted between July 2023 and June 2024, he said.