LAGOS – Nigeria’s total capital importation surged to $10.37 billion in the first quarter of 2026, marking an 83.83% year-on-year increase from the $5.64 billion recorded in Q1 2025.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) dominated the inflows, accounting for 95.09% at $9.86 billion, with money market instruments taking a major share of $6.50 billion.
Conversely, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) remained low, capturing just 1.30% of the total inflows at $135.08 million, while Other Investment brought in $374.48 million, primarily driven by loans.
The banking and financing sectors absorbed the vast majority of the capital, together securing over 96% of the total inflows, driven largely by UK and US investors.
This dramatic tilt toward portfolio capital matches recent actions by the Central Bank of Nigeria, which maintained its benchmark interest rate at a high 26.5% to attract external liquidity buffers.
Nigeria’s external reserves jumped by approximately $1.22 billion in May 2026, closing the month at a robust $49.58 billion, according to the latest data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The significant accumulation marks a major milestone in the apex bank’s ongoing defense of the local currency, boosting investor confidence and pushing liquid foreign assets closer to a historic $50 billion threshold.
Economic analysts trace this momentum back to late 2025 reforms. The CBN’s strategic interventions have successfully choked off currency speculation and consolidated foreign exchange liquidity into the official banking ecosystem.
