Foreign investment on NGX surges 88% to ₦118.9bn in May

Foreign portfolio participation in Nigeria’s capital market experienced a sharp climb in May 2025, as investment on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) surged to ₦118.91 billion, a notable 88.54% increase from ₦63.07 billion recorded in April.

This significant rise was revealed in the latest Domestic and Foreign Portfolio Investment Report published by NGX.

The increase in foreign activity was driven by a robust jump in both inflows and outflows.

Foreign inflows nearly tripled to ₦66.11 billion in May, compared to ₦26.64 billion in April, while foreign outflows also rose, reaching ₦52.80 billion from ₦36.43 billion in the same period.

Overall, total market transactions on the NGX for May stood at an impressive ₦700.50 billion, marking a substantial 45.32% increase over April’s ₦482.04 billion.

This figure also reflected a remarkable 97.11% rise when compared to the ₦355.38 billion recorded in May 2024, indicating strong market growth year-on-year.

Despite the notable increase in foreign activity, domestic investors continued to exert their dominance in the market.

They accounted for a substantial ₦581.59 billion, representing 83.02% of the total trade volume.

Foreign investors, while significantly increasing their participation, contributed ₦118.91 billion, making up 16.98% of the total.

Retail investors spearheaded the bulk of domestic activity, with their transactions surging by 86.12% to ₦337.46 billion in May, up from ₦181.31 billion in April.

Institutional investment, on the other hand, saw a more modest increase of 2.72%, climbing to ₦244.13 billion from ₦237.66 billion in the previous month.

Year-to-date figures further underscore the sustained dominance of domestic investors. As of May 2025, domestic transactions totaled ₦2.42 trillion, accounting for 70.83% of the market.

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In contrast, foreign transactions stood at ₦996.03 billion, representing 29.17% of the total.

This trend represents an improvement over the same period in 2024, when domestic participation amounted to ₦1.79 trillion and foreign transactions reached ₦458.29 billion.

The NGX clarified that the comprehensive report is based on equity trading data from 100% of active trading license holders on the exchange, providing an accurate and holistic picture of market activity.

Meanwhile, a report by National Daily Newspaper corroborates these findings, stating that domestic investors have indeed remained the primary driving force behind activity on the Nigerian Exchange, with ₦3.41 trillion worth of transactions recorded in the first five months of 2025, significantly outpacing foreign contributions.