Report: Nigerian Stocks Deliver World’s Second-Best Dollar Returns, Reclaim $21bn

The second-best dollar gains in the globe this year have come from Nigerian stocks, which rose 31% in 2026 and recovered $21 billion in market value after the naira depreciated sharply in 2024.

At almost $84 billion, the Lagos Exchange’s total market capitalization is nearly 58% greater than it was prior to the depreciation of the naira.

Nigeria’s “benchmark index surged 31% this year, delivering the world’s second-best dollar returns,” according to a Bloomberg story on Tuesday.

“The surge is significantly greater than the 11% increase in the overall emerging-market index and the 6.4% rise in a measure of frontier-market stocks.”

The improvements were credited by analysts to improved investor confidence, a stronger naira, and higher corporate earnings.

SBG Securities Ltd. analyst Olabode Williams stated: “Businesses that were impacted by the decline of the naira have strengthened their balance sheets and become profitable again. Many investors are now factoring in growth, and the market is reacting favorably.

“After years of underperformance, the rally demonstrates that Nigerian equities are becoming more and more appealing to both domestic and foreign investors,” he continued.

Additionally, the value of the naira has increased, rising more than 7% against the dollar to become the second-best performing currency in the world this year.

A stronger naira, which is currently the second-best performing currency globally among those Bloomberg tracks this year with an increase of more than 7% against the dollar, has also supported stock gains, the company said.

The demonstration has been accompanied by a spike in foreign participation. Non-Nigerian trading in local stocks tripled to 2.65 trillion naira ($1.97 billion) in 2025 from 852 billion naira the year before, according to data from the Nigerian Exchange Group. This represents a 19-year high.

According to Gloria Fadipe, an analyst at CSL Stockbrokers Ltd., a division of FCMB Group Plc, the market may reach $100 billion this year as a result of the anticipated listings of Aliko Dangote’s fertilizer factory and refinery, which produce 650,000 barrels per day. “We could see up to 34% capital gains this year if these listings occur,” she continued.

The rally comes after more significant economic changes. “The devaluation was part of President Bola Tinubu’s push to unify and liberalize the foreign-exchange market and bring in investment,” according to Bloomberg.