The naira closed the week of 12 September 2026 at its strongest level against the United States dollar in more than two years, extending a recovery that has taken the currency from record lows in early 2024 to the firmest official rates since before the Central Bank of Nigeria floated it in June 2023.
Central Bank data put the naira at N1,326.5192 to the dollar at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market on Friday, 11 September, with the day’s closing quote at N1,328.50. That marked an appreciation of about N1.69 from the N1,328.2154 recorded on 10 September. In the parallel market, Aboki FX quoted the currency at N1,385 for buying and N1,395 for selling, narrowing the gap between the two markets to roughly 60 naira, or under five per cent, a spread far tighter than the one that defined the currency’s turmoil two years ago.
The context makes the movement significant. On 22 January 2024, the naira fell to what was then a record low of N1,410 to the dollar in the parallel market, and by February that year the official window had weakened past N1,500 while street rates ran above N1,800. The currency lost more than half its value over the course of 2024. Set against that period, the sub N1,330 official rate now being recorded represents a substantial reversal rather than an incremental gain.
The recovery has been driven less by tightening supply than by an accumulation of dollars. Central Bank figures show external reserves reached about 54 billion dollars in the first week of September, up from roughly 45.56 billion dollars at the start of the year, the highest level in close to 18 years. Reserves are what give the apex bank room to intervene in the market and meet external obligations, and a larger buffer allows it to supply dollars without draining its holdings. Turnover in the official window rose to about 14.68 billion dollars in August, its highest in five months, and a deeper market tends to move the rate without heavy central bank spending.
Three inflows sit behind the buildup. The Central Bank has pointed to record formal remittances in July, tied to reforms of its regulatory framework for international money transfer operators and the introduction of the non-resident Bank Verification Number, measures designed to route diaspora funds through formal channels. Governor Olayemi Cardoso has previously set a target of one billion dollars in monthly formal remittance flows. Firmer oil receipts have also helped, with crude prices lifted during recent disruption around the Strait of Hormuz, while renewed foreign investor interest in naira assets has added to the flows. Analysts cited by Bloomberg have projected that the currency could record its strongest annual performance since 2018, with a gain approaching 12 per cent by year end, though that outcome is a projection rather than a settled figure.
For all the improvement in the headline rate, the gains have not been uniform, and the persistence of a parallel market premium is the clearest sign of continuing pressure. The Central Bank determines the official NFEM rate from the volume weighted average of transactions completed each day, but street dealers continue to price the dollar above that level. Part of the divergence reflects demand the official window does not fully capture. Analysts have pointed to the dollarisation of some real estate transactions and structural demand for foreign exchange that the formal market does not clear, which keeps the parallel rate elevated even as reserves climb.
The naira’s strength has also not yet translated into broad relief for households, a gap that matters when assessing what the numbers mean in practice. National Bureau of Statistics data show headline inflation eased for a second straight month in July 2026 to 15.43 per cent, down from 15.91 per cent in June and well below the 24.94 per cent recorded in July 2025. Food inflation, however, moved the other way, rising to 20.31 per cent year on year from 17.52 per cent, with monthly food inflation accelerating to 5.56 per cent from 3.75 per cent. Because the bureau rebased its consumer price index in early 2025, comparisons with earlier rates should be treated with care, but the divergence within the July figures is clear enough: a stronger currency and slower overall price growth have not reached the food basket, where lower income Nigerians spend most of their money. A firmer naira lowers the cost of imports and dollar denominated debt service, benefiting importers, manufacturers buying inputs abroad and the federal budget, but the pass through to retail food prices is neither immediate nor guaranteed.
The sustainability question is the one the data cannot yet answer. Nigeria’s external position remains closely tied to oil receipts, and a high crude price flatters the reserves of any oil exporter. Should oil prices ease, or should remittance and investor inflows slow, the same mechanics that lifted the naira could work in reverse. The Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee held its benchmark interest rate at 26.50 per cent at its July meeting, the second consecutive hold, and its next meeting is scheduled for 21 and 22 September, when the durability of the currency’s gains will form part of the backdrop.
What the record establishes is that the naira has moved from crisis territory to relative stability at the official window, backed by the strongest reserve position in nearly two decades. What it does not yet establish is whether that stability will hold once the temporary supports that produced it are tested, or whether the improvement in exchange rates and headline inflation will feed through to the prices Nigerians pay for food and other essentials. Those answers will come with the bureau’s next inflation report, the movement of oil prices, and whether the parallel market premium continues to narrow or reasserts itself.