Mr. Yusuf Abdurraheem is the Managing Director and Chief Executive of Abuja Security and Commodity Exchange (ASCE) and also, the Chairman, Board of Trustees, Commodity Brokers Association of Nigeria. In this interview with Leadership, at the Reiz Hotel, Abuja, where the newly elected Executives of Commodity Brokers Association of Nigeria (CBAN) were inaugurated, he reveals the challenges of the association and ASCE and the plans ahead for both.

What does this occasion mean to you?

It means a lot not only to me, and more to Nigeria as a country, because what we are pursuing at the exchange is a new project. That is, giving this country a commodity exchange and if you are going to have a virile and stable commodity exchange, you need some basic infrastructure and one of them is human capital, which we are trying to develop through this community brokers' association of Nigeria. We have now achieved it by establishing an association with about 300 trained professionals that will drive commodity exchange operations in Nigeria.

Sir, before now, you have been managing the affairs of the association. What were your challenges?

One of the challenges was to try and develop a crop of human resources for this noble project. And we have to sit down and do a curriculum that will lead us to achieve our goal, we are glad we have successfully done that. Another challenge was to try and get registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) as a trustee association which we were able to do and culminated in this epoch-making event of electing the executives for the association.

After this inauguration and swearing -in-ceremony, what is the next line of action for the association?

The next thing is, obviously, to continue to operate as a professional body, and among the things the association is supposed to be doing is to look into the ways and means of developing community exchange operations in the country and then organise commodity business in the country, drive towards having a law that will back it as a chartered association of commodity and exchange workers, like any other professional association.

What are you doing to guide against unregistered brokers who parade themselves as professional brokers?

If you are a genuine broker, you have to be registered with the exchange. So, if you parade yourself as a broker and want to do commodity business on behalf of a client, the client is supposed to check with the Abuja Securities and Commodity Exchange to ensure that you are a registered broker with the exchange. Otherwise, if one does business with such a tout, one does it at his or her own risk.

How much have you done to determine genuine and fake brokers?

We have started in our little way as an exchange, but I can assure you that the process is now going to be broader. We have 300 disciples who have graduated from our own institution, and these are our own ambassadors and wherever they are, you will agree with me they belong to the various sections of this country. They will reach out to the masses, tell them about the exchange and what they stand to benefit.

What is the capital base of the Abuja Securities and Commodity Exchange, presently?

It is not well capitalised at the moment. As it is now, we are just running on the subscription of the newly inaugurated members. However, I am sure, the associate will be able to generate more income for itself, to be able to run its activities as we progress.

What are the requirements for chartered members and the operational capital base for a member to operate?

You know membership is different from establishing an entity to operate from. If you want to be a broker, you need to have a limited company, in that case, you have to register with Corporate Affairs Commission, (CAC). But as a Professional you need to be a member of CBAN, and for you to be a member, you have to undergo three (3) levels of training: Foundation, Intermediate and Advance, which at present is being run by our Commodity Exchange, and once you are through with that, then you are eligible for inauguration as a member of CBAN.

Sir, three years down the line, can you just give me one of the achievements of the association?

We are looking forward to be chartered in the next three years and we are looking forward to create a vast awareness on commodity exchange operations through out the federation. We are looking forward to increasing government earnings as well as the earnings of the peasant farmers, through an organised market which will be engendered by commodity exchange and fully supported by the membership of CBAN.

Since your transformation from Abuja Stock Exchange to Abuja Securities and Commodity Exchange, little awareness seems to have been created for the Exchange. What are you doing to create more awareness for the Exchange?

Now that we have accomplished the establishment of CBAN, the exchange will embark on the establishment of market information system, which will operate from twelve Command Markets across the country. We are going to place offices in twelve major markets in the country and want to replicate that in the 36 states of the federation, and in each of these markets, we have a store where you can get information about prices, weather, production, prices and in other markets other than the one you are taking that information from. So, within that framework, we expect the majority of Nigerians who are farmers to be able to get sufficient information on agricultural produce and marketing.