Kayode Tokede
Foreign and home buyers’ transactions on Nigeria’s inventory market reached N15.06 trillion within the first 9 months of 2026, amid key reforms and improved financial indicators.
The Nigerian Exchange Limited’s (NGX) report on home and overseas portfolio participation in fairness buying and selling revealed that home buyers continued to dominate transactions, accounting for 89.74 per cent of the whole. In comparability, overseas buyers contributed 10.26 per cent.
Foreign buyers’ share of transactions declined from 21.56 per cent within the corresponding interval of 2025 to 10.26 per cent in 2026. Conversely, home buyers, comprising retail and institutional buyers, elevated their share from 78.44 per cent to 89.74 per cent.
The report disclosed that home buyers’ transactions rose to N13.52 trillion between January and September 2026, representing a 102 per cent enhance over the N6.69 trillion recorded within the corresponding interval of 2025.
Foreign buyers, nevertheless, accounted for N1.55 trillion, representing a 16.01 per cent decline from N1.84 trillion recorded between January and September 2025.
The shift means that the surge in exercise on Nigeria’s inventory market this yr has been pushed largely by native capital, notably institutional buyers.
Capital market analysts attributed the expansion in institutional buyers’ transactions partly to the National Pension Commission’s (PenCom) resolution to lift fairness funding limits for pension funds in February 2026.
They mentioned the coverage had helped inject recent liquidity into the inventory market, supporting positive factors within the share costs of some blue-chip firms. On February 9, 2026, PenCom revised the funding limits for extraordinary shares in Retirement Savings Account (RSA) Funds I, II, III and VI (Active).
The fee amended Section 9 of its funding laws, elevating fairness allocation limits for RSA Fund I from 30 per cent to 35 per cent; RSA Fund II from 25 per cent to 33 per cent; RSA Fund III from 10 per cent to fifteen per cent; and RSA Fund VI (Active) from 25 per cent to 33 per cent.
Institutional buyers accounted for N8.36 trillion of home transactions between January and September 2026, in contrast with N5.15 trillion from retail buyers. In the corresponding interval of 2025, institutional and retail transactions stood at N4.09 trillion and N2.60 trillion, respectively.
The report additionally confirmed that overseas portfolio outflows rose to N913.61 billion between January and September 2026, up from N810.39 billion within the corresponding interval of 2025, a 12.7 per cent enhance.
Foreign portfolio inflows, nevertheless, fell to N632.35 billion, down about 38.6 per cent from N1.03 trillion within the corresponding interval of 2025.
Capital market analysts mentioned FTSE Russell’s 2023 downgrade of Nigeria contributed to overseas buyers’ exit from the inventory market. They described the improve in September 2026 as a primary step in direction of attracting them again.
The report put overseas investor inflows in September 2026 at N925.20 billion, up 249.53 per cent from the N264.70 billion recorded in August.
Investors on the Nigerian inventory market recorded robust returns within the first 9 months of 2026, with market capitalisation gaining N63.73 trillion regardless of volatility.
Market capitalisation rose from N99.376 trillion originally of the yr to N163.105 trillion on September 30, 2026, representing a rise of N63.73 trillion, or 64.13 per cent.
Similarly, the NGX All-Share Index gained 95,598.64 factors, or 61.43 per cent, rising from 155,613.03 factors originally of the yr to 251,211.67 factors on the finish of September.
With fewer than 5 new listings, the NGX has recorded substantial development in 2026, with market capitalisation reaching the N164 trillion mark amid bettering macroeconomic indicators.
The report added: “Over 19 years, home transactions elevated considerably by 160.83 per cent from N3.5560 trillion in 2007 to N9.2747 trillion in 2025, while overseas transactions additionally elevated considerably by 329.87 per cent from N0.6156 trillion to N2.6475 trillion over the identical interval.
“Total home transactions accounted for about 78 per cent of the whole transactions carried out in 2025, while overseas transactions accounted for about 22 per cent of the whole transactions in the identical interval.
“As at 30 September 2026, year-to-date domestic transactions amounted to approximately N13.5159 trillion, representing 89.74 per cent of total market transactions, whilst foreign transactions amounted to approximately N1.5460 trillion, accounting for 10.26 per cent.”
