Nigerian stocks have delivered the world’s second-best dollar returns this year, climbing 31% in 2026 and recovering $21 billion in market value lost following a sharp naira devaluation in 2024.
Total market capitalisation on the Lagos Exchange now stands at about $84 billion, roughly 58% higher than before the naira’s collapse.
As reported by Bloomberg on Tuesday, Nigeria’s “benchmark index surged 31% this year, delivering the world’s second-best dollar returns.
“The rally far outpaces the 11% gain in the broader emerging-market index and the 6.4% advance in a gauge of frontier-market stocks.”
Analysts attributed the gains to stronger corporate earnings, a firmer naira, and renewed investor confidence.
Olabode Williams, an analyst at SBG Securities Ltd., said: “Companies hit by the naira’s fall have shored up their balance sheets and returned to profitability. A lot of investors are now pricing in growth, and the market is responding positively.”
He added, “The rally shows that Nigerian equities are increasingly attractive to both local and foreign investors, especially after years of underperformance.”
The naira has also strengthened, becoming the world’s second-best performing currency this year with a more than 7% gain against the dollar.
Bloomberg noted, “Stock gains have also been underpinned by a firmer naira, now the world’s second-best performing currency this year of those tracked by Bloomberg with a more than 7% advance against the dollar.”
Foreign participation has surged alongside the rally. Data from the Nigerian Exchange Group shows that non-Nigerian trading in local equities reached a 19-year high in 2025, with transactions tripling to 2.65 trillion naira ($1.97 billion) from 852 billion naira the previous year.
Gloria Fadipe, analyst at CSL Stockbrokers Ltd., a unit of FCMB Group Plc, said the market could surpass $100 billion this year with the planned listings of Aliko Dangote’s 650,000-barrel-a-day refinery and fertiliser plant. “If these listings happen, we could see up to 34% capital gains this year,” she added.
The rally follows broader economic reforms. Bloomberg reported that “the devaluation was part of President Bola Tinubu’s push to unify and liberalise the foreign-exchange market and bring in investment.”
