The naira ended the week steady, continuing its recent calm despite ongoing demand pressure from importers and retail users straining liquidity in both markets.
At the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM), the country’s official trading window, the naira settled at approximately ₦1,368.22 per dollar, a figure derived from the volume-weighted average of trades executed in the market, according to figures released by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
That reading is broadly consistent with the trajectory of recent sessions: the currency closed at about ₦1,365.12 on July 31 and ₦1,365.53 on August 1, suggesting the official window has settled into a tight trading band with only marginal day-to-day movement.
Across town in the parallel market, the informal, street-level trading system that Nigerians commonly call the black market, dollars changed hands at roughly ₦1,405, according to reports, putting the spread between the two markets at about ₦37.
Other market trackers reported slightly wider figures; Thursday’s black-market average was nearer ₦1,415 to ₦1,430 depending on whether one was buying or selling, underscoring how quickly street rates can shift from one bureau de change to another and from one commercial hub to the next.
Whatever the exact figure on any given day, the broader story dealers and analysts keep returning to is the same: the chasm between official and parallel rates, which once ran into the hundreds of naira, has narrowed substantially.
At various points in 2024 and into 2025, the gap between the two markets was frequently cited as evidence of deep distortions in Nigeria’s currency regime. That the premium now sits in the ₦30–₦60 range rather than several multiples higher is being read by market watchers as a tentative sign that ongoing reforms to the foreign exchange framework, including efforts to unify and deepen liquidity in the official window, are gaining some traction.
Currency dealers attribute the resilience of the parallel rate to steady demand from three familiar sources: importers seeking dollars for goods not easily financed through official channels, travellers converting naira ahead of trips abroad, and everyday retail users from students paying school fees to families sending remittances who find the black market faster and less bureaucratic than the banking system.
On the other side of the ledger, supply from exporters repatriating earnings and from autonomous sources outside the CBN’s direct control has been credited with keeping the official market from drifting far from its recent band.
Looking ahead, analysts say the naira’s next moves will hinge on a familiar set of variables: the health of Nigeria’s external reserves, the pace of foreign portfolio inflows chasing yield in Nigerian assets, and receipts from crude oil exports, which remain the country’s dominant source of dollar earnings.
Any softening in oil prices or a slowdown in portfolio inflows could quickly reintroduce pressure on the parallel rate, dealers caution, even if the official window continues to hold steady.
For ordinary Nigerians, the practical calculus remains largely unchanged: those needing small amounts of cash dollars in a hurry continue to gravitate toward the parallel market, despite the premium, simply because it’s faster and requires no paperwork.
Businesses with the documentation required for legitimate trade or investment purposes, meanwhile, are still expected to route their foreign exchange needs through banks and the official NFEM channel, a division of labor between the two markets that, for now, looks set to persist.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
The naira held broadly stable this week, with the official NFEM rate near ₦1,368/$ and the parallel market around ₦1,405/$ a gap of roughly ₦37.
The narrowing spread, far smaller than the wide disparities seen in 2024–2025, signals gradual progress toward price convergence under Nigeria’s ongoing FX reforms.
Still, the naira’s near-term stability remains fragile, hinging on oil receipts, portfolio inflows, and reserve levels, meaning any shock to these could quickly widen the gap again.
