Foreign portfolio investments in Nigeria rose by 14.4 per cent to $6.03 billion in the first quarter of 2026, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The figure is an increase of about $760 million from the $5.27 billion recorded in the preceding quarter.
The CBN disclosed this in its Q1 2026 Economic Report, which provides details of developments in Nigeria’s external sector and financial flows during the period.
The report said the increase in portfolio investment was driven mainly by higher foreign purchases of Nigerian equities.
Portfolio investment accounted for the largest share of the $7.22 billion gross incurrence of financial liabilities recorded during the quarter.
Direct investment liabilities stood at $1.03 billion, representing a 7.09 per cent decline from the previous quarter, while other investment liabilities amounted to $0.22 billion.
The financial account recorded a net incurrence of financial liabilities of $2.51 billion during the quarter.
Meanwhile, total foreign exchange inflows into Nigeria increased by 13.26 per cent to $31.34 billion, from $27.67 billion in Q4 2025.
FX outflows declined by 11.78 per cent to $11.01 billion, resulting in a net FX inflow of $20.33 billion, compared with $15.19 billion in the preceding quarter.
Autonomous sources accounted for $21.15 billion of total FX inflows, representing a 23.90 per cent increase from the previous quarter.
Nigeria’s external reserves also increased to $48.35 billion as of the end of March 2026, from $45.75 billion at the end of December 2025.
The CBN report also showed that Nigeria’s total international financial liabilities increased to $226.58 billion, from $220.82 billion.
Portfolio investment liabilities rose by 14.08 per cent to $58.01 billion, while direct investment liabilities stood at $90.38 billion and other investment liabilities at $78.03 billion.
Nigeria’s international financial assets stood at $127.34 billion, leaving the country with a net international investment liability position of $99.24 billion.
In the fixed-income market, CBN Open Market Operations bills attracted N35.62 trillion in subscriptions against N9 trillion offered.
Nigerian Treasury Bills also recorded N24.93 trillion in bids against N7.97 trillion offered.
Nigeria’s consolidated public debt stood at N159.27 trillion at the end of December 2025, representing 36.94 per cent of GDP.
The federal government accounted for N154.92 trillion of the debt stock. Meanwhile, diaspora remittances stood at $5.30 billion in Q1 2026, down 7.50 per cent from the previous quarter.
The increase in portfolio inflows also comes after J.P. Morgan included Nigeria in a new frontier-markets bond index, assigning the country a 7.4 per cent weighting.