This year, Nigerian stocks have produced the second-best dollar returns in the world, rising 31% in 2026 and regaining $21 billion in market value after the naira depreciated sharply in 2024.
The Lagos Exchange’s total market capitalization is currently over $84 billion, which is nearly 58% more than it was before 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 Tuesday Bloomberg story.
“The rally is significantly stronger than the 6.4% increase in a measure of frontier-market stocks and the 11% gain in the broader emerging-market index.”
higher corporate earnings, a higher naira, and rekindled market confidence were cited by analysts as the reasons for the increases.
Businesses impacted by the decline of the naira have strengthened their balance sheets and earned a profit again, according to Olabode Williams, an analyst with SBG Securities Ltd. The market is reacting favorably as many investors are now pricing in growth.
“The rally demonstrates that Nigerian stocks are becoming more and more appealing to both domestic and international investors, particularly following years of poor performance,” he continued.
The naira has also appreciated, rising more than 7% against the dollar to rank as the second-best performing currency globally this year.
According to Bloomberg, “a stronger naira, which is currently the second-best performing currency globally this year among those tracked by Bloomberg with a more than 7% advance against the dollar, has also supported stock gains.”
Alongside the rally, foreign participation has increased. According to data from the Nigerian Exchange Group, non-Nigerian trading in local stocks tripled to 2.65 trillion naira ($1.97 billion) in 2025 from 852 billion naira the year before, marking a 19-year high.
Gloria Fadipe, an analyst with CSL Stockbrokers Ltd., a division of FCMB Group Plc, stated that the anticipated listings of Aliko Dangote’s 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery and fertilizer factory could cause the market to reach $100 billion this year. “We could see up to 34% capital gains this year if these listings happen,” she continued.
The rally comes after more extensive economic reforms. “President Bola Tinubu’s push to unify and liberalize the foreign-exchange market and bring in investment” included the devaluation, according to Bloomberg.
