Nigeria's stock deals hit N2.23trn in 3 months on foreigners block trades

In three months to March, stock traders on Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) traded equities valued at N2.23trillion.

Specifically, there was significant increase in the total value of foreign transactions in March at N699billion representing 62.74 percent of the N1.11trillion total transactions in March.

The NGX linked this development to block trades. NGX just released the summary of foreign and domestic equities market transactions for the month of March.

A further analysis of the total transactions executed between March 2025 and prior month (February 2025) revealed that total domestic transactions decreased by 10.98 percent from N466.82 billion in February 2025 to N415.62 billion in March 2025.

However, total foreign transactions increased significantly by 1,541 percent from N42.65 billion (about $28.57 million) to N699.89 billion (about $455.41 million) between
February 2025 and March 2025.

Institutional investors outperformed retail investors by 6 percent. A comparison of
domestic transactions in the current and prior month (February 2025) revealed that retail transactions decreased by 8.11 percent from N214.51 billion in February 2025 to N197.12 billion in March 2025.

Information on the retail and institutional components of the total domestic transactions in March 2025 is based on data obtained from the monthly stockbroking transaction report of 100 percent of the Active Trading License Holders (TLHs) of Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).

On a monthly basis, Nigerian Exchange Limited polls trading figures from market operators on their Domestic and Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) flows.

As at March 31, 2025, total transactions at the nation’s bourse increased significantly by 118.95 percent from N509.47 billion (about $341.36 million) in February 2025 to N1.1155 trillion (about $725.86 million) in March 2025.

The performance of the review month when compared to the performance in March 2024 (N538.54 billion) revealed that total transactions increased by 107.14 percent. In March 2025, the total value of transactions executed by foreign investors outperformed transactions executed by domestic investors by circa 26 percent.

Iheanyi Nwachukwu

Iheanyi Nwachukwu, is a creative content writer with over 18 years journalism experience writing on banking, finance and capital markets. The multiple awards winning journalist is Assistant Editor, BusinessDay. Iheanyi holds BSc Degree in Economics from Imo State University; Master of Science (MSc) Degree in Management from University of Lagos.
Iheanyi has attended several work-related trainings including (i) Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (Pan African University, Lagos); (ii) News Agency Journalism (Indian Institute of Mass Communication {IIMC}, New Delhi, India); and (iii) Capital Markets Development and Regulations (International Law Institute {ILI} of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA).