Foreign investor participation on the Nigerian Exchange Limited dropped sharply in January 2026 as total foreign participation recorded a significant 75.08 per cent decline in the first month of the year.
The Domestic and Foreign Portfolio Investment Report from the NGX shows the retreat of foreign investors, whose transactions dropped from N0.45809tn to N0.11414tn. The domestic bourse did not see this decline as a fundamental flight of capital but instead viewed it as a normalisation of trading volume.
“Total foreign transactions decreased significantly by 75.08 per cent from N0.45809 tn (about $319.05 m) to N0.11414 tn (about $82.32 m) between December 2025 and January 2026. This sharp decline was primarily due to the absence of the block trades that had substantially boosted foreign transaction figures in December 2025,” read a part of the report.
Generally, activity at the Nigerian Exchange Limited saw a significant cooling in the first month of 2026. Total monthly transactions at the nation’s bourse dropped 37.55 per cent, dropping from N1.3804 tn in December 2025 to N0.8620 tn ($621.67 m) in January 2026.
Despite the month-on-month dip, the market remains on a stronger footing than it was a year ago.
