Nigeria’s currency on Wednesday strengthened against the dollar as the foreign exchange market resumed after the two days of holiday declared by the Federal Government.
Naira gained N2.00k as the dollar was trading at N458 on Wednesday compared to N460 traded on Friday last week on the black market.
Traders attributed the Naira appreciation to availability of dollar and the plans by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to sell dollars to Bureau De Change (BDCs) next week.
The Apex bank on March 26, suspended foreign exchange sales to the Bureau De Change (BDC) operators until further notice due to the Covid-19 lockdown as requested by the operators. The suspension notwithstanding, some BDCs are still active in the market.
At the retail Bureau, Naira was unchanged as the dollar was sold at N462 on Friday last week.
The foreign exchange market opened with an indicative rate of N386.52k on Wednesday. This represents N1.09k gain from N387.61k opened on Friday last week at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window, data from FMDQ revealed.
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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.
