Economy
Naira Crashes to N535/$1 at Parallel Market
By Adedapo Adesanya
The situation of the Naira worsened at the parallel side of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday as mounting pressure took away N3 from the value of the local currency.
Business Post reports that at the midweek trading session, the domestic currency traded against the United States Dollar at N535/$1 at the unregulated forex window compared with the N532/$1 it was sold at the previous session.
Also, at the same segment, the Nigerian currency lost N3 against the British Pound Sterling yesterday to sell at N730/£1 in contrast to N730/£1 it was exchanged on Tuesday, while against the Euro, it depreciated by N3 to settle at N629/€1 in contrast to N626/€1 of the preceding day.
It was a similar situation for the Naira at the Investors and Exchange (I&E) window of the FX market as it depreciated against the American currency by 83 kobo or 0.2 per cent to close at N411.50/$1 compared to N410.67/$1 of the preceding session.
A significant increase in the demand for foreign currencies at the I&E segment, coupled with a strain in supply, caused the weakening of the local currency against the greenback yesterday.
Data showed that the turnover at the investors’ segment on Wednesday stood at $295.39 million compared with the previous day’s $128.11 million, indicating a 56.6 per cent or $167.28 million rise.
However, the exchange rate at the interbank segment of the market remained flat against the US Dollar on Wednesday, trading at N410.42/$1.
Meanwhile, at the cryptocurrency market yesterday, the bears took control as eight of the 10 tokens tracked by Business Post closed in red.
Dash (DASH) took the highest loss as it dropped 7.1 per cent to trade at N107,501.00, Ethereum (ETH) made a 5.6 per cent depreciation to close at N1,834,200.00, while Ripple (XRP) went down by 2.7 per cent to sell at N600.64.
Also, Binance Coin (BNB) fell by 1.9 per cent to trade at N152,000, Dogecoin (DOGE) dropped 1.5 per cent to quote at N137.82, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 1.4 per cent to trade at N1,325.95, while Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 0.9 per cent to close at N24,699,975.75.
On the gainers’ angle, Tron (TRX) aggressively made an 18.5 per cent appreciation to sell at N51.04, Litecoin (LTC) grew by 3.5 per cent to sell at N98,753.33, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) improved by 1.5 per cent to close at N539.99.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.36 per cent on Wednesday, August 19, slicing the market capitalisation of the platform by N9.41 billion to N2.60 trillion from N2.610 trillion, and reducing the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 15.67 points to 4,333.09 from 4,348.76 points.
The securities depository company lost N10.30 at midweek to close at N88.12 per share versus Tuesday’s closing price of N90.02 per share.
This offset the 38 Kobo gained by Golden Capital Plc during the session. The stock traded at N14.05 per unit compared with the preceding day’s N13.67 per unit.
Yesterday, the volume of securities soared by 557.2 per cent to 747,429 units from 113,728 units, the value of securities jumped by 934.0 per cent to N9.4 million from N375.7 million, and the number of deals increased by 35.5 per cent to 42 deals from 31 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 79.9 million units worth N5.8 billion.
GNI Plc also finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units transacted for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira weakened by N7.09 or 0.53 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, August 19, to N1,350.41/$1 from the previous rate of N1,343.32/$1.
The local currency also significantly depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday, by N19.87, to close at N1,839.13/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,819.26/£1, and against the Euro, it lost N18.07 to end at N1,574.31/€1 versus Tuesday’s price of N1,556.24/€1.
However, at the black market, the Naira maintained stability against the US Dollar at N1,390/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank forex desk at N1,357/$1.
Interbank FX turnover increased by 1.72 per cent to $370.980 million from $364.709 million, according to the daily update by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
On the other hand, the number of interbank FX deals declined to 100, from 108 the previous day, reflecting a moderate slowdown in activities.
Available data from the central bank showed that demand for FX by end-users in Nigeria fell by 35.23 per cent to $3.42 billion in April 2026, easing pressure on the Dollar market as the Naira recorded modest gains.
This occurred as FX utilisation across economic sectors declined during the month, while the Naira strengthened at the official market. Across several sectors, including oil, food, and manufacturing, there were drops.
The monthly average exchange rate improved 1.38 per cent to N1,361.22 per Dollar in April from N1,379.98/$1 in March. At the end of the review month, the domestic currency closed at N1,374.94 per Dollar at NAFEM, compared with N1,386.72/$1 at the end of March.
In the cryptocurrency market, coins recorded massive jumps following the US Treasury’s decision to at least double bond buyback operations and was reinforced by a bond-market surge and President Donald Trump’s call for Congress to advance crypto market-structure legislation.
The American President urged Congress to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, calling for “a fair version” of the market structure bill that has been stuck in the Senate.
Ethereum (ETH) surged by 18.2 per cent to $2,261.93, Solana (SOL) rose by 11.4 per cent to $85.77, Ripple (XRP) expanded by 10.5 per cent to $1.10, Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 8.6 per cent to $69,784.82, Dogecoin (DOGE) added 7.3 per cent to sell at $0.0751, Cardano (ADA) rose by 4.8 per cent to $0.1842, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped by 4.5 per cent to $628.45, and TRON (TRX) increased by 0.1 per cent to $0.3330, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Those who purchased the N40 billion bond issued by Geregu Power Plc in 2022 but did not receive payments last month as expected have reportedly now been paid by the energy company.
Geregu Power, listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, was in the news recently over the repayment default on July 28, 2026, triggering panic in the capital market.
Last week, the organisation admitted the issues caused by this default, but said, “Discussions and engagements are ongoing, and the company will continue to act in good faith in fulfilling its responsibilities.”
It further disclosed that “relevant stakeholders and advisers [are being actively engaged] regarding the resolution of the various challenges and is committed to achieving an orderly and mutually beneficial outcome.”
The latest information indicated that N6.03 billion owed investors under the firm’s N40.09 billion Series 1 Senior Unsecured Bond has been cleared.
This is expected to bring relief to investors, who may have feared the worst after the entity failed to meet its debt obligations when due.
However, on the FMDQ Securities Exchange, the status of the debt instrument remains as “credit default in the 8th coupon payment and 4th bullet principal repayment.”
As of the time of filing this report, Geregu Power has yet to confirm the clearing of the N6 billion debt.
