Market News

The naira strengthened by 15.28 per cent in five months, according to Tanimu Yakubu, director-general of the Budget Office of the Federation.

He said by August 2025, it had recovered to N1,525/$1, representing an annualised pace of nearly 48.9 per cent.

Yakubu attributed the rebound to deliberate policy reforms. Increased oil revenues, rising diaspora remittances, and the clearance of over $4 billion in FX backlogs helped restore investor confidence. The unification of Nigeria’s foreign exchange windows also created a single, transparent market rate, allowing the naira to find its realistic value.

“This wasn’t luck; it was policy. Increased oil receipts, swelling diaspora remittances, and the clearing of over $4 billion in foreign exchange backlogs restored investor trust. The unification of Nigeria’s FX windows created a single, transparent market rate—finally letting the currency find its realistic value,” he noted.

He recalled that when the Tinubu administration dismantled the fixed FX regime in 2024, the naira initially plunged to N1,800 per dollar. Critics called it a collapse, but Yakubu said it was a high-risk correction that has begun to yield strong results.

He said, “When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration dismantled Nigeria’s rigid foreign exchange regime in 2024, critics were quick to call it a currency collapse. The naira plunged to N1,800 per dollar in March 2024, and headlines screamed of economic freefall. But beneath the noise, a deliberate, high-risk economic recalibration was underway—one that has now begun to pay off spectacularly.”

One major outcome, he noted, was a boost in non-oil exports. With the naira now realistically priced, Nigerian goods became cheaper globally, driving non-oil export growth from $2.696 billion in H1 2024 to $3.225 billion in H1 2025, a 19.62 per cent year-on-year increase. Export volumes also rose from 3.83 million to 4.04 million metric tonnes.

Yakubu said the reform created a textbook feedback loop: FX reform led to a realistic naira, which led to cheaper dollar prices for exports, which brought in more FX inflows, stabilising the currency and boosting investor confidence.

He argued that critics missed the larger picture: a floating currency, when backed by sound policy, is not a weakness but a tool for national competitiveness. According to Yakubu, if Nigeria stays the course, the naira’s recovery could mark the beginning of a sustainable, export-led economic transformation.