The naira extended its gains against the dollar in the official foreign exchange (FX) market on Thursday, supported by improved dollar liquidity and stronger external reserves, despite a decline in market turnover.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed the naira appreciated marginally by N1.87 as the dollar closed at N1,367.76 on Thursday, representing a 0.14 percent gain from N1,369.63 quoted on Wednesday at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM).
In the parallel market, however, also known as the black market, the local currency weakened by N7 to close at N1,407 per dollar on Thursday, a 0.5 percent decline from N1,400/$1 recorded on Wednesday. As a result, the spread between the official and parallel market rates widened to 2.93 percent from 1.8 percent the previous day.
Activity at the interbank segment of the FX market slowed, with total turnover declining by 19.76 percent to $334.13 million on Thursday from $416.42 million on Wednesday. The number of transactions also fell to 122 deals from 198 recorded a day earlier.
Although NFEM turnover and deal data for Thursday were unavailable at the time of filing this report, the market had recorded stronger trading activity earlier in the week. The number of deals at the NFEM window rose by 33.23 percent to 417 on July 22, 2026, from 313 deals on July 21. However, total turnover declined by 24.06 percent to $1.2 billion from the single-day transaction of $1.5 billion recorded the previous day. Related News Dangote Refinery raises Africa’s largest private capital ahead IPO Afrobeats strikes gold abroad as Super Eagles miss consecutive World Cups Overregulation chokes businesses as government moves to simplify rules
