By Radarr Africa Business Desk
October 26 (Radarr Africa) – Nigeria’s net foreign exchange flows rose to $22.50bn in the second quarter of 2026, the highest quarterly level since the fourth quarter of 2019, according to figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reported by Nairametrics.
The figure compares with $21.33bn in the first quarter of 2026 and $25.08bn in the fourth quarter of 2019. Nairametrics, which drew on the CBN’s Q2 2026 Statistical Bulletin, said the improvement came from outflows falling more sharply than inflows during the period.
Total inflows were $31.43bn in the second quarter, down from $32.39bn in the first quarter. Outflows dropped to $8.93bn from $11.05bn, which widened the net position. Nairametrics ranked the quarter 12th in its historical table of quarterly net flows, which is led by the third quarter of 2014 at $31.93bn.
On a monthly basis, net flows were $6.53bn in April, $7.91bn in May and $8.06bn in June, making June the strongest month of the quarter. Autonomous sources, meaning inflows outside the CBN’s own channels, supplied most of the money. They brought in $7.56bn in April, $7.12bn in May and $8.62bn in June. Inflows through CBN channels were $1.83bn, $3.32bn and $2.98bn in the same months.
Net flows through the CBN itself were negative in April, at minus $176.28m, before turning positive at $2.21bn in May and $1.32bn in June, the report showed.
A separate Q2 2026 FX Market Update from the Financial Markets Dealers Association (FMDA), which Nairametrics reported on October 15 and which uses CBN data, put autonomous inflows at $23.31bn, or 74.15 per cent of the total. The update described that share as the highest in 13 years.
The same update showed the CBN supplying far less foreign currency to the market. CBN FX sales were $418.08m in the second quarter, down 66.73 per cent from the first quarter. For the first half of 2026, CBN sales totalled $1.67bn, the lowest for any half-year since records began in 2008, according to the FMDA update as relayed by Nairametrics.
Demand for foreign exchange also rose. FX utilisation reached $18.34bn in the second quarter, up 12.84 per cent from the first quarter. Financial services took $9.64bn of that, or 52.58 per cent, while import-related demand eased 1.49 per cent to $5.10bn. Industrial imports fell 22.67 per cent to $1.86bn, and oil imports dropped 9.75 per cent to $1.25bn.
Nairametrics noted that the update does not break down the financial-services transactions, so the figure cannot be read as solely investment repatriation or capital flight.
Portfolio investment, which Nairametrics had reported earlier, rose 45 per cent to $6.51bn in the second quarter from $4.49bn in the first. Net flows for the first half of 2026 reached $43.84bn, the FMDA update showed.
The CBN’s data put gross external reserves at $55.07bn on October 8, up from $54.95bn on October 2, according to the FMDA update. The association said that was the highest level since December 2008.
Nairametrics cautioned that net FX flow, which is inflows minus outflows, does not translate directly into a rise in reserves.
The outlet also reported earlier that total FX demand in 2025 rose 91 per cent to $50.93bn.
