Cardoso: Foreign capital inflows hit $20.9bn in 10 months

Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says foreign capital inflows hit $20.98 billion in the first 10 months of 2025.

Speaking on Friday during the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) 60th annual bankers’ dinner in Lagos, Cardoso said this reflects a 70 percent surge compared to total inflows recorded in 2024.

“Foreign capital inflows reached US$20.98 billion in the first ten months of 2025, a 70% increase over total inflows for 2024 and a 428% surge compared to the US$3.9 billion recorded in 2023, reflecting a clear resurgence in investor confidence,” Cardoso said.

Furthermore, he said over the past year, Nigeria has maintained its unified exchange-rate system.

“Today, the once-crippling multi-billion dollar FX backlog has been fully cleared, restoring credibility and giving businesses the confidence to plan,” the governor said.

He said the introduction of the Nigerian foreign exchange (FX) code has established clear guidelines for transparency, ethics, governance, and fair dealing among authorised dealers.

Cardoso added that the deployment of the electronic foreign exchange management system (EFEMS), powered by Bloomberg BMatch, “has transformed FX trading through mandatory order submission, real-time regulatory visibility, and enhanced price discovery”.

Together, he said the reforms have reduced opacity and manipulation, and reintroduced discipline to the market.

‘GAP BETWEEN OFFICIAL/PARALLEL MARKETS NOW UNDER 2%’

The CBN governor said the naira now trades “within a narrow, stable range”.

“The once-substantial gap between the official and parallel markets has shrunk to under 2 percent, down from over 60 percent,” he said.

He said Nigeria’s external sector strengthened decisively in 2025, with the current account balance increasing by over 85 percent to $5.28 billion in second quarter (Q2) of 2024 — up from $2.85 billion in Q1.

“Bolstering our external buffers, foreign reserves reached US$46.7 billion by mid-November, the highest in nearly seven years, providing over 10 months of forward import cover and significantly enhancing the economy’s resilience,” Cardoso said.

“What is most important here is that our FX reserves are being rebuilt organically, not by borrowing, but through improved market functioning, stronger non-oil exports, and robust capital inflows.

“While oil production improved modestly to an average of 1.45-1.52 million barrels per day in 2025, the truly encouraging development is the strong performance of non-oil exports.

“Supported by ongoing reforms and greater exchange-rate flexibility, non-oil exports have grown by more than 18 percent year-on-year, reflecting rising competitiveness under a truly market-driven FX framework.”

As with foreign investor inflows, he said diaspora remittances have also improved as confidence returns to official channels, driven by greater transparency, faster settlement, and better reporting.

“Remittances increased by approximately 12 percent this year, and we expect this momentum to continue as the Non-Resident BVN, launched earlier this year, becomes more widely adopted in 2026,” the governor said.

“We are committed to maintaining the current flexible exchange-rate framework that allows the naira to act as a shock absorber while limiting excessive volatility.”

To strengthen this framework further, Cardoso said the CBN will soon release a revised “FX Manual” to broaden market participation, strengthen documentation rules, enhance EFEMS oversight, and ensure consistent implementation to prevent policy reversals.