Di Naira don appreciate small for di parallel market, reaching N1,409 per dollar from N1,416 on Monday. Dis na N4 gain for di currency, according to reports.
Di appreciation come as di Central Bank of Nigeria continue to manage di foreign exchange market. Since di naira float for June 2023, di currency don see big changes. From N461 per dollar for official window, e don fall to around N1,363 by mid-2026.
Dis reform wey President Tinubu and CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso push through, e close all di multiple exchange rate windows and create one market. Di willing-buyer-willing-seller principle replace di old system wey dey cause distortions.
Di policy don bring some good things. External reserves cross $50 billion for June 2026, wey be 17-year high. Foreign investors come back, and di parallel market premium narrow from over 60% to about 9%. Di Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System launch for March 2024, and daily FX market turnover reach $350 million, di highest since 2014.
But di reform also get cost. Di naira fall 233% from May 2023 to end-2024. Many households suffer, with poverty rate hitting 63% for 2025, according to World Bank. Small businesses face high input costs and lending rates between 32 and 37%.
Chukwuemeka, wey get printing business for Onitsha, import paper and ink from China for May 2023 at N460 to dollar. By December 2024, di same dollar cost am N1,535. E raise prices, but customers go elsewhere. E lay off three workers and still dey struggle to stay for business.
Di IMF report for June 2026 say monetary policy transmission don work again after di reform. Before, when CBN raise rates, commercial lending rates no dey move. Now, interbank call rate dey follow MPR changes closely.
Federal government win from di reform because oil receipts convert at higher naira rate, generating about N12 trillion more for 2024. FAAC allocations rise to record levels.
But di critics talk say di timing and sequence no good. Food inflation hit 24% after unification and keep rising. Research by Zakari, Bakkihs and Asue for Journal of Economics and Social Research for 2025 say exchange rate reform work well only for production economies, not consumption economies like Nigeria.
Egypt run similar reform for 2016 and 2022 but with IMF financing and cash transfers for poor households. Nigeria move first and compensate later, and many households still dey wait.
Di World Bank warn say di FX market still depend on foreign portfolio investors and CBN interventions to stay stable. Portfolio money dey quick to come and quick to leave. Di reserve cushion and stable rate dey real, but dem rest on short-term capital flows, not export earnings and productive investment.
