Nigeria’s FX market recorded a historic surge in the week ended July 24, 2026, with total spot and derivatives turnover reaching $4.375 billion, the first time weekly trading has exceeded $4 billion. This represented an 83.38% increase from roughly $2.386 billion in the preceding week.
Key highlights:
- Average daily turnover rose to $875 million, from $477.16 million.
- Spot FX transactions* accounted for $4.312 billion (98.56% of total turnover), up 81.85% week-on-week.
- FX forwards rose sharply by 333.59% to $62.87 million, suggesting heightened hedging activity.
- The record surpassed the prior 2026 peak of $3.053 billion recorded in the week ended July 3.
Analysts believe the spike was likely driven by unusually large private-sector transactions and stronger foreign portfolio investment inflows, supported by Nigeria’s high interest-rate environment. Increased activity in forward contracts also suggests investors may have been hedging against future exchange-rate risks.
A market insider linked part of the surge to Dangote Refinery’s temporary decision in mid-July to price petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel in US dollars. Although the policy was reversed after about a week, it may have increased immediate dollar demand among fuel marketers and encouraged FX hedging.
Overall, the record turnover reflects growing depth in Nigeria’s official FX market, but the exceptional one-week jump also points to the likely influence of major one-off transactions rather than a purely sustained rise in routine market activity.