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. A year-on-year comparison shows that total transactions increased 41.99 per cent compared to the N0.6071 tn recorded in January 2025.
With the foreign retreat, domestic investors consolidated their grip on the market, accounting for 86.76 per cent of total participation in January. Total domestic transactions outperformed foreign transactions by approximately 74 per cent.
However, even within the domestic segment, a notable divergence appeared. While retail transactions increased 12.92 per cent to N0.35986 tn, institutional domestic participation plummeted 35.73 per cent, falling to N0.38797 tn.
Despite this drop, institutional investors still managed to outperform retail investors by a slim four per cent margin to hold a 52 per cent share of the domestic market.
The January 2026 data also highlights a massive 19-year growth trajectory for the Nigerian capital market. Between 2007 and 2025, domestic transactions increased 160.83 per cent, rising from N3.5560tn to N9.2747tn. Over the same period, foreign transactions surged 329.87 per cent, growing from N0.6156tn to N2.6475tn.
Meanwhile, total domestic transactions accounted for about 78 per cent of the total transactions carried out in 2025, whilst foreign transactions accounted for about 22 per cent of the total transactions in the same period.
