Nigeria’s portfolio investment inflows rose by 17.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter to 7.09 billion dollars in the second quarter of 2026, from 6.03 billion dollars in the first quarter, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The CBN attributed the 1.06 billion-dollar increase to higher inflows into long-term general government debt securities in its Q2 2026 Economic Report, published on Monday, October 26.
The report showed that portfolio investment remained the largest component of Nigeria’s newly incurred financial liabilities during the quarter, significantly exceeding direct investment liabilities, which rose to 1.15 billion dollars from 1.03 billion dollars.
Other investment liabilities also increased, climbing to 2.75 billion dollars from 1.36 billion dollars, driven by higher government and other sector loan drawdowns, as well as increased currency and deposit liabilities of deposit-taking corporations.
Consequently, Nigeria’s net incurrence of financial liabilities rose to 10.84 billion dollars in the second quarter, compared with 8.36 billion dollars in the preceding quarter.
Portfolio investment inflows accounted for approximately 65 per cent of the financial liabilities incurred during the quarter, down from about 72 per cent in the first quarter, as other investment liabilities recorded stronger growth.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s total foreign exchange inflows declined by 4.24 per cent to 30.03 billion dollars in the second quarter, from 31.36 billion dollars in the first quarter.
The CBN report showed that autonomous foreign exchange inflows increased by 3.59 per cent to 21.91 billion dollars, while inflows through the apex bank fell by 20.47 per cent to 8.12 billion dollars.
Nigeria’s financial account also recorded net lending of 1.74 billion dollars, reversing the net borrowing of 2.03 billion dollars recorded in the preceding quarter. The CBN linked the shift mainly to increased acquisition of other investment and reserve assets.
The country’s external reserves rose to 51.39 billion dollars at the end of June 2026, from 48.35 billion dollars at the end of March.
Similarly, the average Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market rate strengthened to 1,365 naira, 95 kobo per dollar, compared with 1,384 naira, 48 kobo per dollar in the first quarter.
The report further showed that Nigeria’s net international investment liability narrowed to 92.94 billion dollars from 94.68 billion dollars, even as total financial liabilities increased by 9.71 billion dollars to 238.66 billion dollars.
Although portfolio investment can support demand for government securities and foreign exchange liquidity, its increase does not necessarily translate into equivalent long-term capital formation.
The CBN’s balance-of-payments figures also differ from the National Bureau of Statistics’ capital importation data and should not be interpreted as total capital importation, as portfolio and direct investments represent distinct categories of cross-border investment.
Boluwatife Enome
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