Naira loses N25 in single-day slide in black market

The naira on Thursday depreciated by N25 in a single trading session in the black market as renewed demand pressure for dollars returned to the parallel market.

Data obtained from street traders and online foreign exchange monitoring platforms showed that the naira traded between N1,410 and N1,420 across various parallel market hubs nationwide.

At the current rate of N1,420 per dollar, the local currency has weakened by about 1.8 percent compared with N1,395 quoted on Wednesday in the black market. The gap between the official and parallel market rates has also widened slightly to about N8 from N7 recorded on Friday, reflecting renewed pressure in the informal currency market.

In the official foreign exchange market, the naira also recorded a marginal depreciation. The currency weakened by N2.80 as the dollar was quoted at N1,387.09 on Wednesday compared with N1,384.29 on Tuesday at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM), representing a 0.2 percent decline against the greenback.

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The local currency had maintained a steady appreciation trend in recent weeks before the rally began to cool after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stepped into the market to mop up excess dollar supply, a move aimed at moderating the pace of the naira’s strengthening.

Market participants said the recent moderation in the exchange rate was largely influenced by the apex bank’s intervention in the market. According to traders, the CBN has been actively buying dollars from the market to slow the pace of appreciation and prevent sharp movements that could trigger speculative trading.

“CBN is the one mopping up the dollar because it was appreciating too fast. They’re buying it from the market,” a trader said, noting that the intervention appeared designed to keep the currency within a manageable range and limit volatility on the upside.

Analysts at the Financial Markets Dealers Association (FMDA) also noted that despite the Central Bank’s late-month foreign exchange purchases aimed at preventing excessive naira strengthening that could distort investor positioning, the currency still recorded gains across both the official NFEM window and the parallel market in February 2026.

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.