The total foreign exchange inflows into the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) surged by 53.3 per cent month-on-month (m/m) to $4.74 billion at the end of January, up from $3.09 billion recorded in December 2024, data from the FMDQ revealed.
This figure when compared to previous month, reflects a significant increase in forex activities at the market. The improvement was primarily due to a substantial increase in inflows from foreign sources (48.8 per cent of total inflows) and collections from local sources (51.2 per cent of total inflows).
According to the data, the increase was driven by a sharp rise in foreign inflows (+192.1 per cent m/m) to $2.31 billion, the highest in 23 months due to improved market confidence and carry trade opportunities in the capital market.
As a result, the FPI (+213.0 per cent m/m) segment recorded higher accretion, while inflows from other corporates (-45.4 per cent m/m) and FDI (-36.5 per cent m/m) segments dropped.
At the same time, inflows from local sources increased by 5.6 per cent m/m to $2.43 billion (December: $2.30 billion).
