Naira Strengthens by N4.35 to N1,332/$ at Official FX Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The new week kicked off bullish at the foreign exchange (FX) market in Nigeria on Monday, August 31, with the Naira strengthening against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N4.35 or 0.33 per cent to close at N1,332.94/$1, in contrast to last Friday’s rate of N1,337.29/$1.

The domestic currency also appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N10.44 to trade at N1,805.06/£1 compared with the previous session’s N1,816.04/£1, and against the Euro, it gained N11.06 to trade at N1,545.81/€1 versus last Friday’s N1,556.87/€1.

At the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira improved its value against the US Dollar by N5 to quote at N1,380/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,385/$1, and at the GTBank forex desk, it traded flat at N1,346/$1.

The market saw sufficient US Dollar volume amid fluctuating interbank FX activity by financial institutions. Foreign portfolio investors, exporters and non-bank corporates remain key drivers of FX inflows, with intermittent support from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and others.

The central bank says the country recorded $947 million in remittance inflows through International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) in July. IMTO inflows reached $3.8 billion in the first seven months of 2026, 50.2 per cent higher than the same period in 2025, pointing to a significant strengthening in flows through formal channels.

On Monday, total FX turnover fell to $106.64 million from $130.69 million, according to data released by the apex bank, reflecting an 18.4 per cent slide in market-maker activity. Equally, the deal count declined to 118 from 146 the previous day.

Nigeria’s economy grew by 4.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, buoyed by growth recorded in the oil and non-oil sectors, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

In the cryptocurrency market, most major digital coins were up despite rising oil prices due to the fresh escalation between the US and Iran, which pushed the 10-year Treasury yield to 4.78 per cent and raised expectations for a Federal Reserve rate increase in September.

Traders are watching Friday’s August jobs report, with a strong reading likely to lift yields further, with Bitcoin up above $78,000 to $78,737.75.

Cardano (ADA) gained 2.6 per cent to close at $0.2007, Ripple (XRP) expanded by 1.5 per cent to $1.38, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 1.3 per cent to $2,471.96, Dogecoin (DOGE) improved by 0.9 per cent to $0.0844, Solana (SOL) jumped by 0.8 per cent to $103.50, and Binance Coin (BNB) surged by 0.6 per cent to $690.31.

On the flip side, TRON (TRX) slipped by 1.6 per cent to $0.3315, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.