This recent appreciation continues a broader trend of stability seen since the start of 2026, marking a significant departure from the volatility that characterized much of 2024 and 2025.

Industry analysts attribute this resilient performance to several strategic factors, including the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) tighter monetary coordination and improved liquidity from domestic energy production.

Key Drivers of the Naira’s Momentum

• Refinery Impact: The ramp-up of the 650,000-bpd Dangote Refinery has begun to significantly reduce the demand for foreign exchange typically used for petroleum imports, providing a much-needed buffer for the local currency.
• Monetary Policy: Interest rates held at elevated levels, hovering around 27%, have continued to attract foreign portfolio inflows, further boosting FX reserves which are now nearing the $50 billion
• Predictability over Level: Financial leaders, including Tony Elumelu, have noted that this newfound predictability is more critical than the absolute exchange rate, as it allows corporate entities to resume long-term investment plans that were previously shelved.

Impact on Nigeria’s Wealthiest

The combination of a stronger currency and a bullish stock market has significantly boosted the dollar value of domestic assets.

The Lagos Stock Exchange recently hit a historic milestone, with market capitalization nearing ₦125 trillion.

Aliko Dangote’s fortune has surged by over $1.8 billion since January, largely due to the appreciation of his naira-denominated assets.

BUA Foods, under Abdul Samad Rabiu, has emerged as the most valuable listed company on the exchange, with a valuation exceeding ₦15 trillion.

Outlook: Can the Gains Last?

While some market observers, including Femi Otedola, have suggested the Naira could potentially strengthen below the ₦1,000 mark by year-end, most analysts remain cautiously optimistic.

The focus remains on whether these gains are driven by sustainable productivity growth or short-term capital flows.

For the Techeconomy community, this stability is a vital signal for the digital infrastructure and tech sectors, where imported equipment and cloud service costs are heavily dependent on exchange rate predictability.

This expansion reflects the company’s increasing focus on localising crypto access in high-growth, underbanked regions.

The addition of NGN, ETB, and PKR to MEXC’s P2P platform enables users in Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Pakistan to trade major cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), and USD Coin (USDC) directly with their local currencies.

The trades come with zero transaction fees, in line with MEXC’s strategy to lower entry barriers for users and encourage grassroots participation in the digital asset economy.

The update is more than a technical expansion — it underscores MEXC’s recognition of Africa and South Asia as rising crypto frontiers.

Nigeria, often cited as one of the world’s fastest-growing crypto markets, and Ethiopia, where digital finance is beginning to surge amid reforms, represent key territories for crypto adoption.

Similarly, Pakistan’s growing youth population and fintech appetite offer strong potential for crypto-enabled financial inclusion.

To support the rollout, MEXC is actively onboarding new merchants to its P2P platform. Merchants benefit from zero transaction fees, dedicated customer support, a special verification badge, and invitations to exclusive community events.

The goal is to nurture a local network of verified sellers and buyers who can facilitate seamless and trusted crypto trades.

P2P trading — which allows users to transact directly without third-party intermediaries — is especially relevant in markets where banking infrastructure is either insufficient or heavily regulated.

By bypassing traditional systems, P2P provides a lifeline for users seeking stablecoins, alternative stores of value, or more flexible remittance solutions.

This latest expansion signals MEXC’s intent to compete aggressively for market share in underserved territories while enabling more users to access and benefit from Web3 technologies.

As global exchanges race to localise their services, MEXC’s early moves into fiat integration may prove pivotal in shaping the next wave of crypto adoption across the Global South.

The data was obtained from the FMDQ securities exchange.

The exchange rate means the naira fell by N65 or 5.26 per cent from N1,169.99/$1 recorded on Friday.

The local currency had strengthened to around N1,072.74 on Wednesday as traders projected the naira could trade below N1,000/$1 for the first time.

However, the latest drop appears to coincide with the remarks of the apex bank Governor, Yemi Cardoso, who stated that the intent of the bank was not to defend the Naira, when asked about the sudden drop in external reserves.

Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves have maintained a one-month dip streak. The latest figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria show the external reserves reached a new low of $32.1bn on April 18, 2024.

The reserves dropped by $2.35bn in 31 days, from $34.45bn on March 18, 2024.

But the CBN governor at the International Monetary Fund/World Bank Spring Meetings stated that the bank would refrain from intervening in the exchange unless unusual circumstances arose, stressing that the recent slight shift in reserves was unrelated to defending the naira.

He said,

“I want to make this as clear as possible, it is not in our intention to defend the naira. and as much I have read in the recent few days, some opinions with respect to what is happening with our reserves and if the central bank is defending the naira.”

The national currency had slumped badly in the forex market in the weeks preceding the clampdown on Binance, exchanging for as much as N1,950 in mid-February.