The naira staged a modest but meaningful recovery last week, appreciating 0.69% to close at ₦1,446.74 per dollar at the official Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM), up from ₦1,456.72 the previous week.
The local currency spent most of the week trading comfortably below the ₦1,450 mark, while the gap with the parallel market narrowed further. On the streetside rate eased marginally by ₦1 to ₦1,476 per dollar.
Market analysts attributed the rebound to improved dollar liquidity driven by foreign portfolio investors unwinding positions ahead of month-end and steady supply from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“The naira gained nearly ₦10 per dollar during the week as FPIs sold USD holdings, injecting fresh liquidity and easing persistent demand pressure,” AIICO Capital wrote in its weekly currency note. “Supply consistently outstripped demand across major trading segments, allowing steady appreciation.”
Cowry Asset Management highlighted a noticeable improvement in market depth rather than a surge in new inflows. “Bid-offer spreads tightened, two-way flows became more balanced, and pricing settled into a calmer corridor,” the firm said, adding that the Monetary Policy Committee’s continued endorsement of the willing-buyer, willing-seller model helped anchor expectations.
Meanwhile, Central Bank Governor Olayemi Cardoso used the platform of the 60th Annual Bankers’ Dinner in Lagos on Friday to announce that Nigeria has attracted $20.98 billion in foreign capital between January and October 2025 — a 70% jump from the whole of 2024 and a 428% leap from the $3.9 billion recorded in 2023.
Cardoso credited the dramatic turnaround to far-reaching FX reforms, including full unification of exchange-rate windows, clearance of the multi-billion-dollar backlog, introduction of the Nigerian FX Code, and the rollout of the Bloomberg BMatch electronic trading platform.
“These measures have eliminated opacity, curtailed manipulation, and restored market discipline,” he said. “Today the spread between the official and parallel markets stands at less than 2%, down from over 60% at the peak of the crisis.”
The CBN chief noted that the naira now trades in a “narrow and predictable range,” giving businesses certainty to plan and encouraging the return of both portfolio and diaspora flows.
Looking ahead, analysts expect the naira to remain supported in the very near term by month-end corporate inflows and rising external reserves, though structural demand from importers and seasonal pressures could re-emerge later in December.
For now, Nigeria’s external finances are enjoying their strongest momentum in years, with the combination of a firmer currency and record capital inflows signalling a clear restoration of investor confidence.
