EFEMS Boost: Naira Appreciates Significantly Against Dollar in Official Market
Story: Written by Myra October 28,2025
The naira recorded its highest value since the introduction of the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS), closing at N1,452.79 per dollar on Monday in the official market. The latest rate reflects a notable appreciation of 14.34 percent or N208.33 compared to the N1,661.12 recorded in December 2024, when the EFEMS trading platform commenced operations.
Day-on-day data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) confirmed that the currency strengthened by 0.4 percent or N5.16, rising from N1,457.95 per dollar last Friday to N1,452.79 on Monday at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM).
Activity in the parallel market remained stable, as the naira exchanged at N1,485 per dollar on Monday, unchanged from the previous week’s closing position.
Nigeria’s external reserves showed a marginal week-on-week improvement of 0.40 percent, adding approximately $169.70 million to close at $42.87 billion as of October 24, 2025. Market analysts attribute the reserve growth to increased foreign exchange inflows and reduced outflows, signalling improved liquidity within the official segment.
Analysts at Coronation Merchant Bank forecast that the naira’s official rate will remain below the N1,500 mark, underscored by expectations of continued FX inflows and strengthened market participation.
The currency rebound follows the CBN’s directive on November 26, 2024, mandating all authorised dealers to adopt the Bloomberg BMatch trading platform to enhance transparency, operational efficiency, and accurate price discovery. The system went live on December 2, 2024, initiating structural reforms to streamline interbank FX transactions.
To complement the reform effort, the CBN later published operational guidelines for EFEMS, stipulating a minimum tradable amount of $100,000 and incremental trade sizes of $50,000. These measures aim to deepen market liquidity and reinforce discipline among participants.
According to Omolara Duke, former Director of the Financial Markets Department at the CBN, EFEMS was developed to deliver “transparent, fair, and efficient FX trading, minimise counterparty risks, and enforce compliance with regulatory standards.”
The implementation of EFEMS continues to strengthen confidence in the foreign exchange market, supporting ongoing gains in the naira and bolstering investor trust in Nigeria’s broader monetary reforms.
