Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE) has concluded arrangements to commence real-time trading this month as part of the plans to inaugurate the pan African Commodities Exchange.

As a build-up to the historic inauguration, scheduled for Thursday, July 28, at its trading floor in Niger House, Lagos, the Exchange has conducted a series of test trades on its state-of-the-art technology and other basic infrastructure to drive the processes of operations in line with the global best practices.

A statement from the Exchange indicates that it had listed several tradable instruments, registered 40 Dealing Member Firms and certified 128 Commodities Brokers to commence physical and remote trading after the inauguration. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has already approved 13 products for trading on the Exchange. The Exchange is the only one with the Commission's approval to trade gold. Upon its inauguration, the Exchange will kick-start the trading of electronic receipts on the following prime commodities: Oil and Gas, Agriculture, Solid Minerals and Currencies. The Exchange has also put in place necessary infrastructures to trade derivatives as hedging instruments for investors.

"We have established necessary structures to commence trading as full-fledged commodities and futures Exchange. Our primary function is to trade electronic receipts. We have addressed the payment and settlement system, depository, registration of Settlement Banks and Dealing Member Firms and certification of Commodities Brokers. 

"We have registered other operators in the commodities ecosystem. Our goal is to play a pivotal role in growing the Nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) into double-digit. We shall bridge the huge gap in the commodities ecosystem. In Africa, the commodities ecosystem is the largest employer of labour. It provides a platform to deploy resources into the fungible assets that have been de-risked. We shall bring transparency through the operations of commodities exchange through our structures and two-way quote., according to the statement.

The high-profile inauguration is expected to be attended by top government functionaries, captains of industries and seasoned financial market regulators and operators.