Nigeria Attracted $112bn FX Inflows in 2025

Nigeria recorded $112 billion in foreign exchange inflows in 2025, according to a new report by the Financial Markets Dealers Association (FMDA).

The inflows were dominated by autonomous sources — private capital flows outside the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) — which accounted for 64.94% of the total.

These rose to $72.91bn in 2025, up from $59.29bn in 2024 and $41.80bn in 2023, nearly doubling in two years.

Meanwhile, the CBN’s own FX sales jumped by 126%, from $3.95bn in 2024 to $8.94bn in 2025, underscoring its stabilising role despite being overshadowed by private inflows.

Total FX utilisation reached $47.17bn, driven by a surge in invisible transactions such as financial services, which alone consumed $21.22bn. Invisible-related demand rose to $27.27bn, eclipsing merchandise imports as the main driver of FX use.

Import-related demand grew moderately to $19.90bn, while the industrial sector remained the largest merchandise-related consumer at $8.43bn.

Oil-sector demand nearly doubled to $4.98bn, while business services demand soared from $702m to $3.48bn. Educational services demand, however, fell sharply to $55m.

Analysts say reforms, diaspora remittances, portfolio inflows, and non-oil exports boosted autonomous FX inflows. They also credited the CBN’s decision to clear $7bn in FX backlogs, which restored investor confidence.

CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso explained, “Credibility is at the heart of any central bank. If you don’t have credibility, people do not trust you and they do not invest in your economy. When I took office, I made a promise we would pay the backlog… and we did.”

Observers note that reforms in exchange rate policy and backlog clearance have positioned Nigeria to attract more global investors, with autonomous inflows now the primary driver of FX liquidity.