Kayode Tokede
Domestic investors are tightening their grip on Nigeria’s stock market, accounting for nearly nine out of every 10 naira traded on Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) in the first eight months of 2026.
Transactions by domestic investors rose to N11.89 trillion between January and August, representing 89.77 per cent of the total N13.25trillion transactions recorded on the market during the period. Foreign investors accounted for N1.35trillion, or 10.23 per cent.
The growing dominance of local investors comes as activity on the equities market has accelerated sharply this year. Total transactions in the first eight months of 2026 were 91.5 per cent higher than the N6.92 trillion recorded in the same period of 2025.
Domestic transactions more than doubled from N5.46 trillion in the corresponding period of last year, while foreign transactions declined from N1.45 trillion. That pushed the domestic share of transactions to 89.77 per cent from 78.99 per cent a year earlier, while foreign participation fell to 10.23 percent from 21.01 per cent.
The shift suggests that the surge in activity on Nigeria’s equities market this year has been powered largely by local capital, particularly institutional investors.
Institutional investors accounted for N7.36 trillion of domestic transactions between January and August, compared with N4.53 trillion from retail investors. In the corresponding period of 2025, institutional and retail transactions stood at N3.13 trillion and N2.33 trillion respectively.
The scale of domestic activity this year has also surpassed the level recorded for the whole of 2025. Domestic transactions stood at N9.27 trillion last year, meaning the N11.89 trillion recorded in the first eight months of 2026 is already about 28 per cent higher.
Foreign participation has moved in the opposite direction. Foreign transactions, which stood at N2.65 trillion for the whole of 2025, amounted to N1.35 trillion in the first eight months of this year.
Trading activity, however, slowed sharply in August after a strong July. Total transactions fell 46.38 per cent to N1.27 trillion in August from N2.37 trillion in the previous month. Despite the decline, August transactions were 39.75 per cent higher than the N908.4 billion recorded in the same month last year.
Domestic transactions declined 45.98 per cent month-on-month to N1.21 trillion, while foreign transactions dropped 53.23 per cent to N62.03 billion. Domestic investors consequently accounted for 95.11 per cent of transactions in August, leaving foreign investors with 4.89 per cent.
The slowdown was more pronounced among institutional investors, whose transactions fell 60.39 per cent to N654.61 billion from N1.65 trillion in July. Retail transactions declined by a much smaller 5.08 per cent to N552.88 billion.
Despite the August moderation, NGX data show that domestic investors have become an increasingly important source of liquidity in the market. Domestic transactions have risen from N3.56 trillion in 2007 to N9.27 trillion in 2025, before climbing to N11.89 trillion in the first eight months of 2026.