South Africa’s Business Day looks at the emergence of a Nigerian trend toward storing value in art. Many emerging market investors use Western art as an investment vehicle  just as they use Western financial assets (government bods) and real estate in Western capitals to safeguard their wealth.

An art investment boom is under way across emerging markets, but it has been seen as largely centred on China, India and Gulf Arab countries.

The poorest continent is still widely viewed in art circles more as a source of fine art for auctions in the developed world rather than a market in itself. […]

Oscar Onyema, CE of Nigeria’s stock exchange, has a very small but growing portion of the exchange’s portfolio in Nigerian art, about 20-million naira ($122,400) so far.

“People are now using art as an alternative to other asset classes. We think this is a wise thing to do,” Mr Onyema said. “We certainly expect that our own collection at the exchange will increase in value.” Nigerian auctioneer Yemisi Shyllon — whose own collection is valued at roughly 5-billion naira — says there was virtually no domestic art market in 2008.

Since then, art worth about 775-million naira has sold at auctions, according to data Mr Shyllon has gathered, and maybe three times that in galleries or private sales.

Even more telling is the way this story is presented. Reuters produced the story but gave it a religious spin (In Nigeria, Art Boom Leads to Revival of Ancient Rites) whereas South Africa’s

The rise of indigenous art collectors promises new Nigerian asset class (Business Day Live)