Nigeria’s foreign exchange market crossed the $4 billion mark for the first time in 2026, with weekly turnover surging 83% to $4.375 billion in the week ended July 24.
The figure is up sharply from $2.386 billion the previous week, according to the latest FMDQ Exchange report.
Spot transactions accounted for $4.312 billion of the total, while forward contracts jumped over 333% to $62.87 million.
An industry insider linked the surge to Dangote Refinery’s brief policy of pricing petroleum products in dollars, a move that was reversed after about a week.
Financial analyst Tajudeen Olayinka said the scale of the jump suggests a large, one-off transaction, possibly from foreign portfolio investors.
He added that the rise in both spot and forward activity points to investors executing trades while simultaneously hedging against future currency risk.
The Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market has recorded more than $46 billion in cumulative turnover between March and June 2026, with spot transactions consistently dominating weekly activity.