Nigeria recorded a major rebound in external investor confidence as foreign capital inflows surged to $20.98 billion in the first ten months of 2025, the highest in years, according to the Central Bank Governor, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso.
Speaking at the 2025 Annual Bankers’ Dinner of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, CBN, in Lagos, Cardoso said the inflows, representing a 70 per cent rise above total inflows for 2024 and a 428 per cent jump from 2023, reflect renewed trust in Nigeria’s economic direction and the credibility of ongoing monetary reforms.
Cardoso highlighted the “visible transformation” in the foreign exchange market, noting that the CBN has sustained the unification of FX windows while fully clearing the multi-billion-dollar backlog that once undermined confidence.
He said the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Code and the deployment of the Electronic Foreign Exchange Management System (EFEMS) have introduced transparency, mandatory order submission, real-time surveillance and enhanced price discovery.
According to him, these reforms “have restored discipline to the market”, reducing the premium between the official and parallel markets to under 2 per cent, down from over 60 per cent a year ago.
He added that the Bank will soon unveil a revised FX Manual aimed at widening market participation, tightening documentation standards, and entrenching regulatory consistency to sustain stability.
Cardoso reported significant improvement in the country’s external buffers, with foreign reserves rising to $46.7 billion by mid-November, the highest in almost seven years, providing “over 10 months of forward import cover”.
(Vanguard)
