Nigeria has officially opened discussions with JPMorgan to re-enter its Government Bond Index for Emerging Markets (GBI-EM), almost a decade after being delisted.
The Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Patience Oniha, made the disclosure on Wednesday during the Nigerian Investor Forum held alongside the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington DC.
Oniha explained that Nigeria resumed active engagement with JPMorgan following recent reforms in the foreign exchange market, which have improved transparency and market conditions.
“With the reforms implemented, the foreign exchange market has improved, and we’re eligible again. We’ve resumed active engagement with JP Morgan to re-enter the index,” she said.
The DMO, in a post on its official X (formerly Twitter) account on Thursday, confirmed that Nigeria now meets the requirements for readmission.
Nigeria was first listed on the GBI-EM index in 2012 but was removed in 2015 due to concerns about FX market liquidity and transparency. The country was initially placed on negative watch before being officially delisted on September 8, 2015.
Since then, major reforms have been carried out, including the unification of the multiple exchange rate windows by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the reduction of CBN’s direct intervention in the FX market. These efforts aim to improve price discovery and attract more investors.
The DMO said Oniha and CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, also noted the recent stabilisation of the naira and renewed investor interest in Nigeria’s economy.
Fitch Ratings recently upgraded Nigeria’s long-term foreign currency rating from ‘B-’ to ‘B’, citing better macroeconomic indicators and rising investor confidence.
Rejoining the JPMorgan index is expected to boost Nigeria’s visibility among global fund managers and could unlock billions of dollars in foreign investments.
The GBI-EM index is a major benchmark used by global investors to track sovereign bond performance across emerging markets.
