Naira falls to N1,665 on black market

… loses 5.5% on official market

The naira on Friday fell to an average rate of N1,665 per dollar on the parallel market, commonly referred to as the black market.

This represents a loss of N5 compared to N1,660 traded since Monday. In Abuja and Onitsha, one dollar was sold for N1,670.

The naira depreciation was attributed to strong demand by end users for Basic Travel Allowances (BTA), Personal Travel Allowances (PTA), school fees and medical.

“We are buying dollars for N1,650 and selling at N1,670,” a trader said on Friday.

At the official FX market, the local currency lost 5.5 percent on Thursday as the dollar was quoted at N1,649.76 as against N1,558.75 quoted on Wednesday at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited showed.

The naira on Wednesday recorded 5.06 percent gain on the official foreign exchange (FX) market following an increase in dollar supply to $221.24 million in one trading day.

Nigeria’s external reserves, also known as foreign currency reserves, jumped by $490 million in one week following the successful issuance of domestic dollar bonds by the Debt Management Office (DMO).

Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that the external reserves grew to $36.73 billion as of September 10, 2024, from $36.24 billion recorded on September 2, 2024.

On August 19, 2024, the Nigerian Government issued $500 million, the first series of the $2 billion domestic US dollar bond to investors, to stabilise the economy.

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.