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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Economy & Trade

Nigeria targets emerging-market status after FTSE frontier-market upgrade

From The Punch · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement New plan
  • FTSE Russell will reclassify Nigeria as a frontier market on Sept. 21, 2026, restoring its place in the index nearly three years after foreign-exchange problems led to its removal.
  • The Finance Ministry said the move validates Nigeria’s economic reforms, while Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele called emerging-market status the government’s next goal.
  • Nigeria’s return followed regulatory changes including the shift to a T+1 settlement cycle, which FTSE Russell reviewed before confirming the upgrade.

Nigeria is preparing to re-enter the global frontier-market index after nearly three years of exclusion, with the government already presenting the move as a stepping stone toward emerging-market status.

The reclassification is an important validation of Nigeria’s reform trajectory and a foundation for the next phase of the country’s capital market development.

— Federal Ministry of FinanceThe ministry welcomed Nigeria’s return to the frontier-market index.

FTSE Russell confirmed that Nigeria’s market will officially return to frontier-market classification on Sept. 21, 2026. The readmission follows the foreign-exchange crisis that left overseas investors facing long delays when trying to repatriate equity proceeds. FTSE Russell subsequently downgraded Nigeria to “Unclassified” status and removed its index constituents.

The Federal Ministry of Finance described the reclassification as an endorsement of the government’s macroeconomic agenda and foreign-exchange market overhaul. “The reclassification is an important validation of Nigeria’s reform trajectory and a foundation for the next phase of the country’s capital market development,” the ministry said. It added that the move was “a meaningful signal to global capital that our market is open, orderly and improving.”

It is a meaningful signal to global capital that our market is open, orderly and improving.

— Federal Ministry of FinanceThe ministry described the significance of the FTSE Russell reclassification.

Oyedele said the upgrade reflected structural changes across public and private institutions aimed at restoring investor confidence. “We see this as a milestone, not a destination,” he said. “Our ambition remains to build a capital market that is deep, liquid and competitive enough to earn Emerging Market status in the near term.”

We see this as a milestone, not a destination.

— Taiwo OyedeleNigeria’s finance minister said the government views the upgrade as progress toward a larger capital-market goal.

The return followed regulatory milestones in 2026, particularly the introduction of a T+1 settlement cycle on June 1. FTSE Russell had initially approved the upgrade conditionally and kept Nigeria under review while it assessed the transition from T+2. A later operational review found no settlement or funding problems for foreign investors. The Finance Ministry credited the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian Exchange Group, the Central Securities Clearing System and market operators with supporting the reforms.

Our ambition remains to build a capital market that is deep, liquid and competitive enough to earn Emerging Market status in the near term.

— Taiwo OyedeleOyedele outlined the government’s next objective after the frontier-market reclassification.
About this summary

Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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