App Review: How ComX is Helping Nigerians Profit from the Agricultural Commodities Market

One of the fastest ways to become a millionaire is through investments. It provides a way to build your wealth, by employing some money to make more money.

From stocks to bank bonds and commodities markets, there are many different ways you can invest.

However, investing successfully can be a difficult task. If you invest without a proper understanding of what you are investing in, there is a potential risk of losing your money.

If you invest wisely the potential to gain money is higher than if you never invest.

Nigeria’s First Digital Commodity Trading Platform

ComX, a commodity trading platform by AFEX Commodities Exchange Limited (AFEX) is reducing the risks of investment by providing a simple, easy and informative way of trading and investing in agriculture commodity-backed instruments.

Since its launch in January 2020, the ComX app has grown to have over 10,000 users and now has 10 listed commodity-backed instruments for its users.

With the promise of providing Nigerians with an easy way to invest and create wealth, I reviewed the ComX app.

Invest easily with ComX

At 16 MB, downloading the ComX app was easy and fast on Android but a bit heavier on iOS with a size of 91.6 MB. The app has a 4.3-star rating and over 10,00 downloads on Play Store.

After launching the app for the first time, you can start investing in less than 5 mins. All you need to do is just sign-up with your name, email and phone number.

Once you are logged in you need to verify your account, enter a personal 4-digit pin and answer 3 multiple choice questions to help determine your preference as an investor.

After that, you can start trading Spots, ETCs, Forwards, and Asset-Backed Commercial Paper (ABCP) available on the platform.

Richard Ogundele, a ComX user lauded the app. He expressed that the sign-up process was easy for anyone to trade comfortably in agricultural commodities, learning the ropes and growing their portfolio of investments.

He added that its simplified way of trading agricultural commodities was fantastic and that “whatever one’s appetite or concerns for investments, the platform has it all covered.”

How to trade on ComX

The ComX app has a Market section where you can find all the commodities available for you to trade or invest in. Under Market, you have Trades where you can search or select from the drop-down list of commodities like soybeans, sorghum and maize for you to buy or sell.

It also has an Open Orders page where you can find all your pending and partially matched trades that you can invest in.

Buying or selling commodities on the platform are done in units. Each listed commodity has a unit price which determines the price of the units of the commodity you want to buy.

There are about 9 different products available for investors

The ComX app gives a variety of products to trade in and these include; Spot Maize (SMAZ), Spot Paddy Rice (SPRL), Spot Soybean (SSBS), Spot Sorghum (SSGM), Spot Cocoa (SCOC) and Fair Trade Exchange Traded Commodity (FETC). There are also Fixed Income Products such as; Note Paddy Rice (NPRL), Coupon Ginger (CGNG) and the Export Note (CEXP).

Each product has a chart showing its price fluctuation going back to almost a year. The trading page also shows the contract size of the product and reference location to better help you make trading decisions.

Although most of the products listed on the platform are tradeable in Naira, AFEX revealed that some of its products like CEXP (Commodity Export Product) launched earlier in the year have dollar-denominated returns.

ComX has also onboarded dashboard features like portfolio, watchlist and trade history to help you track orders, place orders, view live quotes from anywhere in the world.

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Start investing on ComX with less than N10,000

Speaking on affordability, the company disclosed that users can start trading with as low as N8,500 but the minimum amount to trade on the platform is dependent on the lowest market price of any product class.

Products on the ComX platform are designed to be accessible by all categories of investors with contract value ranging between N8,500 and N15,000.

ComX

However, before you can invest or buy a commodity you need to fund your wallet.

How to fund your Wallet

Funding your wallet on the ComX app is very easy. All you need is to go to the wallet feature under profile and select ‘Fund your Account‘. You can fund your account either through a debit card or bank transfer.

For a debit card, ComX uses Paystack payment integration which charges about 1.4% of the total amount you want to deposit. For bank transfers, users will be charged the normal fee for transferring funds to the Sterling bank account the company uses.

Similarly, there is a feature that allows for cash withdrawal to any bank account of your choice. According to the company, there is no maximum or minimum limit to the amount you can withdraw from the wallet.

The wallet also has features like transaction and bank account which lets you monitor your money flow on the app.

Earn more with ComX

For experts in commodities trading, ComX has options for users to upgrade from the normal investor status to that of a promoter or broker. With the upgrade, users can increase their earning capacity by leveraging on the platform.

However, to upgrade users must meet all regulatory requirements where applicable.

Brokers are a Membership Category on the Exchange for an individual or institution that can buy or sell on behalf of an investor

Asides Brokers, ComX also has a special Membership Category for institutions that offer brokerage services called Broker-Dealer.

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Learn more about commodities trading and Investments

One of the biggest mistakes investors make is investing in markets they don’t understand. According to Warren Buffett, one of the world’s most successful investors, investing in companies whose business models you don’t understand is very risky.

ComX with the learning feature on its app is bridging the knowledge gap in the commodities market. The learning page has FAQs on the commodities markets, flashcards and videos to help new users get educated on the commodities trading.

It also has a chat feature where users can chat with an online buddy about any question they may have.

Asides the education tips for beginners, the app also releases The AFEX Commodities Weekly report which shows users an overview of how the market was during the week.

However, AFEX revealed that there are no reports available for the period of September – November, which is usually the cultivation season for most commodities covered by the Exchange. Hence there are no prices available for trades to be executed on.

Join a Community and learn new ways to trade

As a promoter on ComX, you can create a community to connect with other investors as well as discuss market trends with like minds.

For newbies in the commodities market, the community provides an opportunity to discuss and learn for seasoned experts in the market. They can also learn the latest trends of investing in the market.

Security

Investments and trades on ComX are extremely safe. The company is registered and regulated by the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Similarly, the bank and card details entered on the platform are also safe as a PCI-DSS-compliant payment platform to handle all investor’s card details.

In terms of privacy, the app only requests permission to access your gallery when uploading identification details while completing your KYC on the platform so your privacy is assured.

Summary

Commodities are not better than stocks. However, it is a very profitable portfolio diversification instrument and better risk-adjusted return on investment than traditional asset classes.

So, trading or investing in commodities enhances an investor’s portfolio, helping them hedge whatever risk that may arise from other asset classes.

With ComX, AFEX wants Nigerians to have a safer way to invest, earn and build their wealth by trading Agricultural commodities.