Nigeria added to FTSE Russell watch list for potential frontier market return

By Peter Egwuatu 

Nigeria’s economic and marketplace reforms person gained planetary momentum arsenic FTSE Russell announced the inclusion of the state connected its Watch List for imaginable reclassification from unclassified to frontier marketplace status.

The announcement, published successful the FTSE Equity Country Classification Annual Review 2025, follows confirmation from marketplace participants that the overseas speech backlogs and superior repatriation delays which led to Nigeria’s downgrade successful 2023 person been cleared since aboriginal 2025.

FTSE Russell noted that Nigeria present meets the 5 Quality of Markets criteria required for Frontier Market classification, with further appraisal scheduled for March 2026 arsenic portion of its ongoing reappraisal process.

Market analysts person attributed the advancement to wide-ranging fiscal and monetary argumentation adjustments, including reforms successful the overseas speech market, rationalisation of substance subsidies, and measures to amended the easiness of doing business. These steps, combined with stronger coordination among fiscal marketplace regulators, person enhanced transparency, boosted liquidity, and renewed assurance among some section and planetary investors.

Commenting, Mr. Temi Popoola, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group), said: “Nigeria’s inclusion successful the FTSE Russell Watch List is much than recognition; it is simply a reaffirmation that argumentation consistency, transparency, and collaboration work. The caller reforms successful the overseas speech market, fiscal policy, and easiness of doing concern person collectively helped reconstruct capitalist assurance and code cardinal structural constraints. At NGX Group, we person ever viewed specified advancement arsenic a springboard for deeper superior marketplace evolution.

 Our absorption remains connected sustaining liquidity, expanding listings, and leveraging exertion and sustainability to heighten the prime of capitalist participation, ensuring that Nigeria’s marketplace spot becomes some disposable and investable connected the planetary stage.”

The station Nigeria added to FTSE Russell ticker database for imaginable frontier marketplace return appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.