Nigeria’s foreign exchange market has recorded a major surge in activity, with the Nigeria FX spot market crossing the $5bn mark for the first time in 2026. Data from FMDQ Exchange showed that spot transactions jumped by 155.02 per cent to $5.01bn in the week ended August 21, up sharply from the $1.96bn recorded the previous week.
The latest increase also pushed total turnover across Nigeria’s FX spot and derivatives markets to a record $5.06bn for the year. This represents a 146.12 per cent rise from the $2.05bn recorded a week earlier. At an average exchange rate of N1,346.50 to the dollar, the week’s transactions were valued at approximately N6.81tn.
Spot transactions were clearly the driving force behind the surge, accounting for 99.03 per cent of total weekly FX turnover, compared with 95.58 per cent in the previous week. Average daily spot turnover also climbed to about $1bn from $443.22m, highlighting the intensity of trading activity in the market during the period.
While spot trading surged, the forward segment moved in the opposite direction. FX forwards fell by 46.09 per cent to $49m from $90.89m, reducing their share of total market activity to just 0.97 per cent. The sharp reversal is particularly notable because forward transactions had jumped by 263.56 per cent only a week earlier, pointing to continued volatility in the hedging segment.
The latest figures add to a pattern of sharp swings in Nigeria’s weekly FX market activity. Turnover had moved from $2.32bn in the week ended June 19 to $2.84bn a week later and $3.05bn by early July, before falling to $1.63bn and subsequently recovering to $2.39bn and then $4.38bn in the week ended July 24. The latest $5.01bn spot-market record therefore marks another significant jump in activity and puts Nigeria’s currency market firmly in the spotlight.
Source: Punch
