Nigeria’s Naira showed mixed performance on Wednesday, appreciating slightly on the black market but depreciating against the dollar in the official market.
On the black market, often used for currency exchange outside the control of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Naira gained 125 points to N1,375 per dollar compared to N1,500 the day before. This suggests increased dollar availability in unofficial channels.
However, in the NAFEM, the official foreign exchange market regulated by the CBN, the Naira fell to N1,339.33 per dollar. This represents a depreciation of N155.77 compared to Tuesday’s N1,173.88.
The contrasting performance narrows the gap between the official and black market rates. The difference between the two rates is now N45.35 per dollar, significantly smaller than the N326.12 gap on Tuesday. This could indicate a potential convergence of the two markets in the future.
Source: Vanguard