Naira Sells N1,326/$1 at Official FX Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira continued to wax stronger against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, by N2.74 or 0.21 per cent to sell for N1,326.69/$1 compared with the previous rate of N1,329.43/$1.

In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market at midweek by N9.02 to close at N1,791.16/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,800.18/£1, and against the Euro, it gained N3.58 to trade at N1,538.43/€1, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing price of N1,542.01/€1.

At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira chalked up N5 against the Dollar yesterday to settle at N1,338/$1 versus the preceding session’s N1,343/$1, but at the parallel market, it traded flat at N1,375/$1.

Analysts say the domestic currency is on course for its strongest annual performance in nearly a decade, with rising Dollar inflows from higher oil prices and remittances helping to shield the currency from the political risks typically associated with election periods.

According to Bloomberg, the Naira is projected to strengthen to N1,290 per Dollar by year-end. The forecast would extend its 8 per cent gain so far this year to nearly 12 per cent, potentially marking its strongest annual appreciation since at least 2018.

The stronger inflows have also lifted Nigeria’s external reserves to $53.9 billion, an 18-year high, giving the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) greater buffers to support the Naira against future economic uncertainties and potential election-related shocks.

The currency could receive an additional boost from Nigeria’s planned return to the FTSE Russell frontier-market equity indexes on September 21, a move expected to improve foreign investor access to the country’s financial markets.

As for the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) rose about 0.3 per cent to $77,729.79, but the rebound lacked strong spot-market support as exchange inflows increased. Friday’s jobs report could determine expectations for the Federal Reserve’s September meeting and could show the direction the digital assets could flow.

Further, Cardano (ADA) soared by 4.2 per cent to $0.2056, Ripple (XRP) improved by 1.6 per cent to $1.36, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 1.5 per cent to $0.0829, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped by 1.3 per cent to $695.95, TRON (TRX) expanded by 1.1 per cent to $0.3262, and Solana (SOL) also increased by 1.1 per cent to $100.85, while Ethereum (ETH) fell by 0.4 per cent to $2,407.26, with the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remaining unchanged at $1.00 apiece.