The Nigerian Stock Exchange was established in 1960 as the Lagos Stock Exchange. In December 1977 it became The Nigerian Stock Exchange, with branches established in some of the major commercial cities of the country. At present (2009), there are six branches of The Nigerian Stock Exchange. Each branch has a trading floor. The branch in Lagos was opened in 1961; Kaduna, 1978; Port Harcourt, 1980; Kano, 1989; Onitsha, February 1990; and Ibadan August 1990; Abuja, October 1999 and Yola, April 2002. Lagos is the Head Office of The Exchange. An office has just been opened in Abuja.
The Exchange started operations in 1961 with 19 securities listed for trading. Today there are 262 securities listed on The Exchange, made up of 11 Government Stocks, 49 Industrial Loan (Debenture/Preference) Stocks and 194 Equity / Ordinary Shares of Companies, all with a total market capitalization of approximately N287.0 billion, as at August 31, 1999.