Roqqu Wants to Put Nigerian Stocks On-Chain: Details
Roqqu wants to put Nigerian stocks on the blockchain for investors abroad. Here is what is known, what is missing, and what it means for Africa.
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What to know:
- Roqqu says it is building a system to put Nigerian equities on blockchain networks for eligible investors abroad.
- It has not named institutional partners or the first stocks, and the legal link between held shares and tokens is undisclosed.
- This reverses the usual direction: so far, the story has been Nigerians buying tokenised US stocks.
Over the past year, tokenised stocks in Africa have mostly pointed in one direction. Africans have been buying slices of foreign companies like Nvidia and Tesla. Roqqu now wants to flip that.
The Nigerian-founded exchange says it plans to tokenise local stocks, giving eligible investors abroad access to Nigerian equities through blockchain networks. It is an interesting idea. It is also early, with several open questions.
What Roqqu says it is building
Rather than functioning as a direct asset tokeniser, Roqqu is positioning itself primarily as a distribution layer.
Roqqu told TechCabal that it intends to distribute dividends, execute stock splits, and provide other shareholder benefits.
The company’s head of trading and markets, Emmanuel Peter, sees Roqqu as a distribution layer rather than a replacement for the Nigerian Exchange (NGX). Shares would still trade on the NGX; Roqqu would be the channel through which outside investors reach them.
This extends a push Roqqu has already made into US equities. In June, the exchange partnered with Ondo Finance to offer blockchain-based versions of US stocks and ETFs to retail investors. By August, users could buy tokenised versions of publicly traded stocks directly in the Roqqu app.
Why Nigerian stocks, and why now
Increasingly clearer regulation is one reason. Nigeria’s Investments and Securities Act (ISA) 2025 established an explicit legal foundation for virtual assets, digital investment contracts, and tokenised securities under SEC Nigeria.
The regulator has approved tokenised securities on the NASD OTC Securities Exchange. Crypto Africa has covered how NASD’s digital securities platform is meant to be a regulated venue for issuing and trading tokenised securities.
Traditional foreign portfolio investors in Nigeria face severe foreign exchange conversion delays and remittance bottlenecks. Tokenised stocks settled in stablecoins allow offshore capital to gain equity exposure, capture yield, and exit seamlessly without touching illiquid local fiat channels.
Competition is building too. In September, Africa saw its largest share sale with the Dangote IPO. NectarFi and GetEquity acted as a distribution layer, enabling global access to the IPO via stablecoins.
Daya, known for stablecoin payments, launched Daya Stocks, offering tokenised versions of over 400 US stocks and ETFs. Paga also partnered with TBook to now offer its users tokenised Real-world assets.
The gaps that matter
The announcement leaves real questions open. The company has not named its institutional partners or identified which Nigerian stocks it plans to tokenise first.
While the distribution model is compelling, tokenised stock products face strict legal and operational dependencies that will determine their long-term viability. Every digital token issued must correspond strictly to real equity shares held in an accredited, regulated custodian vault. Roqqu will need to provide publicly verifiable proof-of-reserves.
The enforceable legal link between the shares held and the tokens issued also remains undisclosed. Daya’s tokens, for example, give economic exposure, including dividends and stock splits, rather than direct shareholder rights, and currently cannot leave the platform.
Roqqu says it will pass on shareholder benefits, but the form that takes, and what happens if something fails, is what investors will want in writing.
What to watch next
For now, there is no product. Roqqu has not announced a launch date, partner list, or stock list, though the company is optimistic that Nigerian tokenised securities will be available before 2027.
If Roqqu delivers, it would be one of the first attempts to export access to Nigerian equities via blockchain rails, rather than only importing foreign stocks.
That could widen investments in Nigerian companies. But the promise rests on custody, legal clarity, and regulatory sign-off, none of which have been detailed publicly.
