Nigeria’s FX Market Turnover Rises 11% to $2.63 Billion as Spot Trading Recovers

Nigeria’s foreign exchange market recorded a rebound in trading activity in the week ended September 25, 2026, as total turnover across the FX Spot and Derivatives markets rose 11.02% week-on-week to $2.627 billion.

According to the latest FMDQ FX Market Analysis Report, total turnover increased by $260.85 million from the $2.366 billion recorded in the week ended September 18, 2026.

Average daily turnover also increased to $525.43 million from $473.26 million in the preceding week, representing a weekly increase of $52.17 million, or approximately 11.0%.

What you should know

The increase indicates that activity across Nigeria’s formal FX market picked up during the week, following the lower turnover recorded in the previous period.

FMDQ’s FX market data covers transactions executed through its market infrastructure and provides an important view of trading activity among authorised dealers and their clients. FMDQ notes that FX market movements are influenced by currency demand and supply, trade activity, capital flows and market expectations.

The latest increase, however, should not automatically be interpreted as stronger dollar supply or a stronger naira. Turnover measures the value of transactions taking place, not the net amount of foreign currency entering Nigeria.

Spot transactions drive the rebound

The FX Spot market accounted for most of the increase during the review week.

Spot turnover rose by 10.62%, or $248.42 million, to approximately $2.588 billion from $2.340 billion in the previous week.

This means that more immediate FX transactions were executed between market participants, making spot activity responsible for almost all of the overall increase in turnover.

Spot transactions are particularly important because they reflect the immediate buying and selling of currencies rather than contracts for future settlement.

FX derivatives also record sharp percentage growth

The FX Derivatives segment also recorded an increase, although its contribution to total turnover remained relatively small compared with the spot market.

Derivatives turnover increased by 46.42%, representing a $12.43 million increase during the week.

The sharp percentage increase therefore needs to be viewed alongside the relatively small base of derivatives activity. A large percentage movement in a smaller market segment does not necessarily have the same economic significance as a similar percentage movement in the much larger spot market.

FMDQ describes derivatives as financial instruments whose value is derived from an underlying asset or market variable, with FX derivatives providing tools for managing or hedging currency risk.

Why higher FX turnover matters

Higher turnover generally indicates greater participation and liquidity in the formal FX market.

For businesses, deeper FX activity can make it easier to execute transactions needed for imports, exports, investment and other international payments.

It can also improve price discovery because more transactions provide the market with additional information about prevailing demand and supply conditions.

However, higher turnover by itself does not establish that the naira is strengthening.

The exchange rate is ultimately influenced by the balance between demand and supply for foreign currency, alongside factors such as oil receipts, portfolio flows, remittances, non-oil exports, import demand and market expectations.

Turnover rises even as the market remains rate-sensitive

The rebound also comes against a changing Nigerian monetary-policy environment.

FMDQ data showed the overnight rate at 20.77% on September 25, while the Open Repo Rate stood at 20.40%. Treasury bill yields were also trading across a range of maturities, reflecting the broader repricing taking place in Nigeria’s fixed-income market.

The relationship between interest rates and FX activity is important because changes in domestic yields can influence the attractiveness of naira-denominated assets to investors while also affecting borrowing costs and liquidity conditions.

Nigeria’s recent monetary-policy shift therefore means FX activity will remain closely watched alongside portfolio flows and domestic liquidity.

The bigger picture

The rise in weekly FX turnover to $2.63 billion points to a more active formal currency market after the previous week’s decline.

The most important detail is the composition of the increase: spot turnover rose by $248.42 million, while derivatives added $12.43 million. This shows that the rebound was overwhelmingly driven by immediate FX transactions rather than derivatives trading.

For the naira, the next question is whether higher market activity is accompanied by stronger and more sustainable foreign-currency supply.

That will depend on the behaviour of oil and non-oil export receipts, foreign portfolio investment, remittances, import demand and other sources of FX liquidity.

In other words, higher turnover is a positive sign for market activity and liquidity, but the direction and sustainability of the naira will depend on what is driving that activity.