NFEM FX Turnover Hits $1.45bn in One Day, Weekly Volume Jumps 47%

Nume Ekeghe

Trading activity on Nigeria’s official foreign exchange market surged last week, with daily turnover climbing to a record $1.45 billion as the market recorded one of its busiest trading sessions since the beginning of the available data series.

Data from the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) showed that turnover rose to $1.454 billion on September 10 from $544.11 million the previous day, representing a 167.2 per cent increase within a single trading session.

The figure was also more than double the $674.38 million recorded on Thursday, September 3, in the preceding week, representing a 115.6 per cent week-on-week increase in turnover for the corresponding trading day.

The September 10 turnover was the third-highest single-day turnover recorded in the NFEM data, which covers transactions from December 2024 to date.

It came behind the $1.82 billion recorded on May 12 and $1.53 billion on July 21.

The sharp increase on Thursday was accompanied by 470 deals, the highest number of daily deals recorded during the week. Interbank transactions accounted for $357.30 million of the day’s total turnover.

The spike on September 10 helped lift total NFEM turnover for the five trading days ended September 11 to $3.87 billion, representing a substantial 47.2 per cent increase from the $2.63 billion recorded in the preceding week.

Despite the surge in value traded, the number of transactions was relatively stable, with 1,572 deals recorded during the week, compared with 1,580 deals in the previous week, a marginal decline of 0.5 per cent.

The figures suggest that the sharp increase in turnover was driven more by the size and value of transactions than by a corresponding increase in the number of deals.

Trading activity during the week started at $482.24 million on Monday, September 7, before rising sharply to $933.78 million on Tuesday.

Turnover moderated to $544.11 million on Wednesday before the major spike to $1.45 billion on Thursday. Activity subsequently eased to $458.99 million on Friday.

The Tuesday figure was also significantly higher than the $574.42 million recorded on the corresponding Tuesday of the previous week, while Wednesday’s $544.11 million was below the $658.46 million recorded on September 2.

Friday turnover of $458.99 million was also lower than the $495.70 million recorded on September 4.

The week-on-week increase was therefore concentrated around the sharp expansion in trading on Tuesday and, particularly, Thursday.

The weekly performance also placed September 7–11 among the busiest trading weeks in the NFEM since the beginning of the available series.

However, it did not set a weekly record. The highest weekly turnover recorded in the dataset was $5.28 billion between August 17 and 21, followed by $4.82 billion between July 20 and 24 and $3.97 billion between March 9 and 13.

The latest $3.87 billion therefore ranks as the fourth-highest weekly turnover in the available NFEM data.

The performance is nevertheless notable because the market achieved the volume despite recording fewer deals than in some of the earlier high-turnover weeks.

For instance, the July 20–24 week generated $4.82 billion from 1,610 deals, while the August 17–21 week recorded $5.28 billion from 1,420 deals.

By comparison, the September 7–11 week generated $3.87 billion from 1,572 deals.

Interbank activity also contributed significantly to the week’s performance. Total interbank turnover stood at approximately $763.24 million during the five-day period, with Thursday alone accounting for $357.30 million.