By Dickson Pat
Non-bank corporates have surpassed foreign portfolio investors, FPIs, for two consecutive weeks, indicating improved investor confidence and a 24% increase in foreign exchange inflows into the country for July 2025, according to data from FMDQ.
FPIs remained the primary source of inflows overall, representing about 45% of all inflows in July.
Driven by favorable carry trade conditions and generally stable global macroeconomic factors, offshore investor inflows rose to $1.7 billion from $1.5 billion in June, reflecting cautious foreign investor enthusiasm.
The Naira held the N1,550/$ band while the haven currency strengthened in the global financial market
Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves reached $41.046 billion on August 20, the highest level since December 2, 2021, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s ,CBN, most recent data.
The country’s FX reserves had been steadily declining since the end of 2021 as the apex bank dipped into them to support the naira before it started an accretion on the back of various CBN reforms.
Last year, the total had dropped to almost $31 billion.
Investor confidence in the Nigerian economy has increased because of the various foreign exchange reforms, including initiatives to reduce the forex backlog
The CBN has begun the process of unifying exchange rates to reduce arbitrage opportunities and decrease market volatility. It introduced the Nigerian Foreign Exchange ,FX, Code and cleared more than $7 billion of the verified backlog of forex forwards to ensure the market follows international best practices.
“We have done what we should do, which is act as a catalyst to ensure that this happens”, said CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso at the latest Monetary Policy Committee meeting, confirming further reserve growth.
“It is also happening now. It is beginning to occur. I assure you that the statistics show that it is starting to happen”, the CBN chief added.
