Daba Markets Inc. (Daba Finance), a digital investment platform that connects investors to African capital markets, has partnered with Coronation Securities Limited and Coronation Asset Management Limited to give eligible Daba users access to Nigerian capital market products.

Announced at a signing ceremony in Lagos on Wednesday, the partnership combines Daba's digital platform and international reach with Coronation's knowledge of Nigeria's capital market and investment products. Daba will operate as Coronation's corporate client through a trust structure, creating a route for its users to access products and services—including local stocks, investment funds, securities trading, and investment research—offered by Coronation's locally regulated businesses.

The deal comes as Nigeria's stock market continues its surge. The NGX ended August with an all-share index year-to-date return of 56.93%. Yet the boom has also exposed a gap: foreign investors are participating far less in the current run than domestic investors. That gap matters for the broader market, because foreign portfolio flows have historically been a significant source of liquidity and hard-currency supply for Nigerian equities, and their limited participation means much of the current rally has been carried by local buyers.

The NGX's July Domestic and Foreign Portfolio Investment Report showed that foreign transactions fell 29% between June and July, leaving foreign investors responsible for just 5.6% of total transactions during the month. Nigeria's return to the FTSE Russell Frontier Market classification, an index that categorises national equity markets, places the country back in a recognised group of investable markets tracked by global investors—an upgrade that typically makes a market visible to funds benchmarked against frontier indices, though actual inflows depend on investor confidence and access.

"Millions of Africans in the diaspora and investors around the world follow African markets closely but find it hard to participate from a distance because accessing credible information and navigating local market structures can be challenging," said Boum III Jr, chief executive officer of Daba Finance. "This arrangement helps to close that gap by combining Coronation's deep Nigerian market expertise with Daba's technology and international reach."

The diaspora is a sizable pool of potential participants: remittances from Nigerians abroad are one of the country's largest sources of foreign currency, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the partnership is effectively an attempt to channel some of that cross-border financial engagement from consumption into capital-market investment.

Daba launched in 2021, positioning itself as a platform bringing together investing across Africa's private and public markets. Its founders, Boum III Jr and Anthony Miclet, aimed to make investment opportunities accessible through a single platform, arguing that retail participation in the continent's capital markets remained limited and that potential investors lacked the information and infrastructure needed to invest across borders.

The company currently tracks 194 listed companies across the Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM), the regional exchange of the eight West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries, and the NGX, according to its website. Daba says it serves more than 250,000 customers globally, connecting individuals and institutions across the United States, Europe, Canada, and Africa to African stocks, bonds, funds, and private-market investments.

According to the company, the partnership is built around market intelligence, investor education, and digital access—elements designed to address different parts of the problem facing an international investor interested in Nigeria.

Under the arrangement, eligible Daba users will be able to access Nigerian capital-market products made available by Coronation directly through the Daba platform. Eligibility will depend on the investment and regulatory rules that apply in each user's country of residence. The companies noted that the functionality supports digital onboarding, funding in multiple currencies, investment requests or trade placement, and investment reporting.

Daba will own and manage the customer relationship and user journey through its platform, while Coronation will provide Nigerian market expertise and the capital market products.

"Nigeria's capital market presents significant opportunities for investors seeking exposure to one of Africa's most dynamic economies," said Jibola Odedina, managing director and chief executive of Coronation Securities Limited. "However, expanding participation requires more than providing access; it requires credible market intelligence, investor confidence and a clear understanding of the investment environment."

Daba will also deliver Nigerian market news, data, analysis, and research through its digital platform, supported by Coronation's local market knowledge and expertise. The two companies will additionally offer courses through Daba Academy and Coronation Investment Academy, their respective investor education and learning platforms, alongside jointly delivered webinars. The educational content will be designed to help people understand Nigeria's capital-market instruments, institutions, safeguards, opportunities, and associated risks. How quickly the partnership translates into increased foreign and diaspora participation on the NGX, and how the eligibility rules play out across different jurisdictions, will be the practical measures of the arrangement over time.