Trading in Nigeria’s foreign exchange market contracted sharply last week, with total turnover falling 30.23 per cent to $2,366.30 million in the week ended 18 September 2026, according to data from FMDQ Group Plc.
The value of trades executed between authorised bank dealers and their clients dropped by $1,025.34 million from the $3,391.64 million recorded in the preceding week ended 11 September.
Spot and Derivatives Both Weaker
Tumi Sekoni, Group Chief Operating Officer of FMDQ Group, said the week-on-week decline was driven by a 21.06 per cent fall in FX spot transactions and a 93.74 per cent drop in FX derivatives.
The contraction was most severe in the derivatives segment. Turnover there plunged 93.74 per cent from $427.99 million in the previous week to $26.78 million, with the entire volume made up of FX forwards.
Spot market turnover also declined, falling 21.06 per cent to $2,339.52 million from $2,963.65 million a week earlier.
Spot Still Dominates
Despite the overall reduction in trading value, spot transactions continued to account for the bulk of activity, making up 98.87 per cent of total turnover for the week. Derivatives represented the remaining 1.13 per cent.
Average daily foreign exchange market turnover eased to $473.26 million from $678.33 million in the prior week, reflecting lower liquidity and reduced transaction volumes across both bank-to-bank and client trading windows.
