Tayo Busayo, Abuja
DAILY COURIER – Nigeria’s equities market delivered a record N21.85 trillion gain in 2024 on the back of robust investors’ confidence that characterised trading activities during the period.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) showed that the the local bourse which closed the 2023 trading with equities capitalisation at N40.91 trillion and NGX All-Share Index (ASI) at 74,773.77 points, rose to N62.76 trillion and 102,926.60 points respectively as of December 31, 2025.
This exceptionally impressive performance pushed stock value higher by N21.85 trillion and the ASI up by 28,152.63 translating to a growth of 53.40 percent and 37.65 percent respectively in 2024.
The local bourse had launched into the 2024 trading year on a robust enthusiasm. Aside from coinciding with the second anniversary of the demutualisation of the NGX Group in March 2021, the positive sentiment during the period was underscored by the change of leadership at the Group.
Temi Popoola was announced the Acting Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer (GMD/CEO) effective January 2024. He replaced Oscar Onyema. In the same vein, Jude Chiemeka took over from Popoola as Acting CEO of NGX Limited.
Like a team powered by the elevated furnace of good fortune, the NGX began to move on the bullish territory in a consistent, spectacular way.
The local bourse furthered its rally into 2024, rising by 1.63 percent on January 2, the first trading day of the new year. The trend remained unwavering to the end of January as the NGX ASI appreciated by 3 percent to cross 100,000 index points hitting a record 101,571.11.
This impressive twist of events which hinged largely on increased investors’ confidence anchored to the reform policies of the Nigerian government manifested in the outstanding 2024 performance.
“Change in government policies, removal of fuel subsidy fuelled the rally in the oil and gas, while the devaluation of the naira made the banks to make huge profits from FX gains.
“So, the market responded. There is also a huge inflow from politically exposed person’s who now have the confidence to invest due to change in government”, said Dr Paul Uzum, a top stockbroker.
The tight monetary policy regime of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) created convenient environment for investors who thronged to the fixed deposit market.
In 2024, the CBN raised its interest rate six times between February and November, totaling 875 basis points aimed at reining in inflation.
The Monetary Policy Committee of the CBN raised the interest rate by 25 basis points to 27.50 per cent in November from 27.25 per cent in September 2024.
The CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, noted that the decision to raise the country’s Monetary Policy Rate was to tackle inflation, which stood at 33.87 per cent in October 2024. This has further jumped to 34.6 percent in November, 2024.
However, the high foreign portfolio inflow sparked by the bank recapitalisation exercise boosted both the foreign reserves and the NGX capitalisation.
It is on record that the NGX had earlier secured its position as the world’s best performing stock market in the first three weeks of 2024, at a record 94,538.12 index points.
.A closer look at the year’s performance showed that the equities market experienced alternating months of growth and decline with the steepest drops occurring in April (-6.06 percent) and July (-2.28 percent).
Despite the setbacks, the market showed resilience with recoveries in March, May, June and September.
In an impressive twist of events, the market closed positively in November, with N59.10 trillion, posting a 44.45 percent gain which pointed to a sustained bullish year-end as predicted by investment analysts.
Looking at the quarterly performance, the market saw a robust 39.84 percent growth in Q1 2024, rising from 74,773.77 to 101,562.06. However, the second and third quarters witnessed modest corrections, with the declines of -4.31 percent in Q2 and 1.50 percent in Q3.
“Despite the smaller decline in Q3,, investors were cautiously optimistic as they expected a modest bullish turnaround in Q4 encouraged by improving sentiment and probable policy adjustments,” said David Akinwale, a financial and investment analyst.
