The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigeria, has stepped up its drive to boost financial literacy, safeguard investors and widen participation in the Nigerian capital market through its Capital Market Awareness, Unclaimed Funds and Investor Education Outreach Programme, held in Lafia, Nasarawa State.

The programme brought together representatives of relevant institutions, academia and other stakeholders to promote awareness of investment opportunities, facilitate access to unclaimed dividends and other investment assets, and educate the public on measures to guard against fraudulent investment schemes.

Among those present were representatives of the ICMR, the Probate Registry, key departments of the Securities and Exchange Commission, academia and the National Population Commission. Their participation underscored the importance of institutional collaboration in addressing the challenges associated with unclaimed investments and improving public understanding of the capital market.

Members of the SEC Board who attended the programme also delivered goodwill messages, reaffirming the importance of investor education, public enlightenment and sustained efforts to protect investors while broadening access to the capital market.

A major highlight of the engagement was a courtesy visit by the SEC Chairman, Alhaji Mairiga Aliyu Katuka, to the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, His Excellency, Engr. Abdullahi A. Sule, to appreciate the state government’s support and seek stronger collaboration in advancing investor education and financial inclusion.

During the courtesy visit, Katuka expressed appreciation to the Governor for providing strategically located office space in Lafia for the Commission’s liaison office.

The facility, situated within the complex previously occupied by the State Ministry of Education, is expected to become operational soon, bringing the Commission’s services closer to investors and residents of Nasarawa State.

The SEC Chairman described the gesture as a significant contribution to strengthening the Commission’s presence in the state and improving access to its services.

In his response, Governor Sule commended the SEC for its work in the Nigerian capital market, acknowledging the importance of the Commission’s regulatory role and its efforts to promote investor protection and strengthen confidence in the market. He also recognised the significance of initiatives aimed at improving public awareness of investment opportunities and encouraging informed participation in the capital market.

The Governor’s commendation highlighted the value of the Commission’s work in promoting a transparent and orderly market, while underscoring the importance of collaboration between the SEC and the Nasarawa State Government in advancing financial inclusion and economic development.

Katuka also commended the state government’s efforts to promote investment, enterprise, industrialisation and sustainable economic development, noting that Nasarawa’s growing economic potential makes it an important partner in expanding participation in the Nigerian capital market.

He explained that the Commission’s outreach initiative forms part of its nationwide efforts to improve financial literacy, promote legitimate investment opportunities, protect investors and assist Nigerians in recovering unclaimed dividends and other investment assets.

He solicited the state government’s support in mobilising business owners, cooperative societies, youth groups, market associations and other stakeholders to participate actively in the programme.

According to him, an informed population is better equipped to make sound financial decisions, protect its savings and contribute meaningfully to economic growth.

At the outreach programme, the Commission highlighted the challenge of unclaimed dividends and other investment assets, emphasising the need to ensure that investors can access funds rightfully belonging to them.

Unclaimed investments may arise from incomplete investor records, outdated shareholder information, changes in bank account details and difficulties associated with transferring investments following the death of an investor.

The Commission stressed that such funds represent the savings and investments of individuals and families and should be accessible to their rightful owners through established procedures.

To address the challenge, the SEC highlighted the enhanced e-Dividend Mandate Management System, which facilitates the direct payment of dividends into shareholders’ bank accounts and enables investors to update their records more conveniently.

Investors were encouraged to regularise their investment information and take advantage of the available facilities to facilitate the recovery of outstanding dividends.

The Commission also emphasised the importance of cooperation among registrars and other market stakeholders in improving record management, enhancing service delivery and resolving outstanding claims.

The programme further reinforced the SEC’s commitment to protecting investors, promoting financial literacy and expanding access to reliable information about the capital market. Through continued engagement with government institutions, academia, market stakeholders and the public, the Commission aims to strengthen investor confidence and encourage responsible participation in Nigeria’s financial markets.

The post SEC Deepens Investor Education in Nasarawa, Seeks Stronger Partnership appeared first on Business Today NG.

Journalists, entrepreneurs, and even some public relations professionals will tell you that the PR process is broken (buy me a drink sometime, and I’ll give you my rant). But could AI actually make things better?

Honeyjar, which will be attending this week’s TechCrunch Disrupt as part of the Startup Battlefield 200, wants to use AI to make the expertise and judgment of the best PR pros available to everyone, including founders who have no idea where to start.

The startup’s founders, CEO Michelle Masek and Chief Communications Officer Nadia Jamshidi, certainly fit the bill when it comes to PR expertise. They’ve both spent decades in the field, doing in-house communications and working at agencies. Masek recently served as senior vice president of marketing and communications for Ev Williams’ venture firm, Obvious Ventures.

As Masek described the challenges involved in “helping with the why and when of comms and marketing for 110 portfolio companies” (the startups her firm had invested in), I flashed back to my own brief stint leading marketing at an early-stage VC firm, where founders were constantly asking for help getting into TechCrunch. So I wasn’t surprised that Masek found herself asking, “Is there a way to scale the senior-level expertise into AI [in a way] that actually helps users do the work of comms in the proactive and skilled way that we do?”

Honeyjar is her answer to that question. It automates processes like writing announcements, finding the best journalists to pitch, and identifying the most promising speaking opportunities. But Jamshidi told me in a follow-up email that Honeyjar’s vision goes beyond getting press coverage and beyond specific AI tools.

“Honeyjar can find reporters, build media lists, scan news and social, track coverage, and surface opportunities,” she said. “Those capabilities are important, but they’re just one piece of what we’re building. The bigger idea is bringing the whole communications workflow together: signals, context, strategy, judgment, timing, and execution.”

And it’s not just for founders. Masek said she’s come to realize there are “millions and millions of unassigned communicators responsible for the work of comms.”

“They don’t have the title of comms, but they’re marketers, investors, authors, creators, school superintendents, sports team leaders,” she added. “It’s incredibly horizontal, this need to nail strategic communications. It’s always passed around, but the problems are very often not solved.”

Nor is Honeyjar trying to replace PR professionals. Masek said she and Jamshidi built the tool they wanted to use themselves. She argued that Honeyjar can make PR firms and in-house comms teams more effective, while allowing individual PR practitioners to “take on that third client without any scaling cost.”

When Honeyjar opened its waitlist, it received 10,000 signups in the first 24 hours, said Masek. Beta testers include Nextdoor, tech startup Coco Robotics, investor Bloomberg Beta, and agencies Mission North and Full Picture.

That sounds promising for companies looking to get more attention, but it could be a nightmare for journalists. We receive more pitches than we can respond to, many of them already written by AI chatbots.

When I raised my fears about getting inundated with even more PR slop, Masek noted that while Honeyjar can draft a pitch email or a social media post in the customer’s voice, the customer actually has to hit send or publish.

“We never want a world where the human is removed from the loop,” she said.

And that’s also where judgment is key. Masek said she and Jamshidi tried to “infuse and encode Honeyjar with our wisdom.” Through a broader initiative called the Comms Lab, they’re now training the product on the judgment of other PR pros as well.

“For us, judgment is knowing what to do, what not to do, when to act, and how to adapt to the situation,” Jamshidi added. “That comes from understanding a company’s goals and priorities, what’s happening inside and outside the organization, and knowing what to say, to whom, where, and when.”

In some cases, Masek said Honeyjar might even tell a founder that they’re simply not ready for coverage.

“We hear from reporters all the time who want better pitches, who want to hear from experts directly,” she said. “We actually see a future where there are more credible pitches in your inbox from sources who you actually want to hear from.”

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