MSCI Inc. , a leading provider of investment decision support tools worldwide, and The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the stock exchange servicing the largest economy in Africa, yesterday announced a strategic co-operation agreement to develop and market a co-branded family of indexes for the Nigerian equity markets.

Existing and future indexes will be co-branded as the MSCI/NSE Indexes, including the flagship NSE 30 Index and NSE 50 Index, which will become the MSCI/NSE 30 Index and the MSCI/NSE 50 Index, respectively. Additional indexes will also be jointly developed and launched in the future based on client demand and market development. The indexes will be used as performance benchmarks and as the basis for index-linked products for investors seeking exposure to the Nigerian capital markets.

“As the largest economy in Africa, Ni​geria is increasingly positioning itself at the center of the development of the region’s capital markets,” said Baer Pettit, Managing Director and Head of MSCI’s Product Group. “MSCI is very proud to establish a strategic relationship with The Nigerian Stock Exchange, and we look forward to working with them to raise the profile of these indexes around the world. The combination of MSCI’s emerging and frontier markets index expertise and NSE’s position as one of the leading exchanges in the region will, we believe, deliver high quality indexes for both international and domestic investors.”

Oscar N. Onyema, CEO, NSE, said, “We are proud to collaborate with MSCI, one of the top and most-respected index providers for global stock markets. Our collaboration provides the global investing public, listed companies and other stakeholders in the Nigerian market access to MSCI’s high quality products and internationally recognized brand. The Nigerian Stock Exchange, in cooperation with MSCI, will continue to innovate and bring products to market that will increase the sophistication of African markets, and continue to establish Nigeria as the market for entrepreneurial growth.”

The MSCI/NSE Indexes will be calculated and disseminated by MSCI, based on the same ind​ustry leading standards that apply to the MSCI indexes. MSCI will commercialize the indexes outside of Nigeria while the NSE will continue to serve clients in Nigeria.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange is the largest exchange in Africa by volume traded, currently trading an average of 437.4 million shares daily. With 253 listed securities, the NSE’s total market capitalization is USD 90.67 billion.