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Nigeria’s Naira is gaining the trust of foreign investors on the Nigeria stock market (NGX), who have confidence in president Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s bold economic reforms and stability in the foreign exchange (FX) market.
Foreign investor participation on the NGX improved modestly to 21.2 percent in the first ten months (10M) of 2025, from 16.6 percent in 10M ‘2024, though it remained below long-term historical averages, according to data from Afrinvest Securities.
Total foreign portfolio inflows rose sharply by 182.0 percent to N1.1 trillion in 2025, while outflows increased by 99.6 percent to ₦909.6 billion.
This resulted in a net positive foreign portfolio balance for the first time in three years of N208.2 billion, reflecting improved FX liquidity, clearer policy direction, relative exchange rate stability, and renewed foreign investor confidence in Nigerian assets.
When President Bola Tinubu was sworn in on May 29, 2023, he hit the ground rolling by announcing key reforms such as the removal of the costly fuel subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market.
Initially, foreign investors remained on the sidelines as they were afraid that the government and its policy makers could return to a multiple exchange rate system that made it practically difficult for them to repatriate their money.
The intrepid policy makers’ ability to cling onto the economic reforms have created a more stable macroeconomic environment, bolstered sectoral performance, and underpinned stock market performance as investors are swooping on Naira assets.
Naira traded at N1,538/US$ as of December 2024, now the currency has appreciated to N1,453.29/US$ as at November 2025.
As of December 23, 2025, the Naira traded within the range of N1,431/US$ – N1,466/US$ and appreciated by 0.54 percent to close at N1,456.56/US$ at the NFEM window.
The country’s reserves improved to $45.50 billion as at the end of November 2025, from $40.80 billion as at November 2024, according to data from the CBN website.
Merchandise Trade Balance increased to N19.3 trillion as at November 2025, from N16.90 trillion as at December 2024, according to data from Afrinvest Securities.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the GDP report for the third quarter (Q3) of 2025, which indicated that the Nigerian economy expanded by 3.98 percent year-on-year YoY (vs 4.23 year on year (YoY) recorded in Q2 ’25).
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate slowed to 16.05 percent in October 2025 from 18.02 percent in September 2025 for the seventh straight month.
The yield on Nigeria 10 year bond yield held steady at 16.77 percent on December 19, 2025. Over the past month, the yield has edged up by 1.18 points, though it remains 4.40 points lower than a year ago, according to over-the-counter interbank yield quotes for this government bond maturity.
The NGX-ASI has delivered a year to date (YTD) gain of 48.99 percent as of 23rd, December 2025, which makes it the second best performer among Frontier and Emerging Markets who benefitted from improved global liquidity conditions and renewed investor interest in higher-growth economies.
“The big economic decisions being taken by this government are really important and are being noticed around the world: the removal of subsidies; the exchange rate reform, all of that create a much better investment environment,” said Richard Montgomery, British High Commissioner to Nigeria.
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