Foreign exchange and OMO bills account for 64.26% of total market activity, while the top 10 dealing banks handle more than three-quarters of transactions……
Trading activity on the FMDQ Exchange reached N551.23 trillion in the first nine months of 2026, equivalent to $403.08 billion, as foreign exchange transactions and Open Market Operations (OMO) bills continued to dominate activity across the market.
The figure represents the cumulative value of transactions recorded between January and September, according to FMDQ Exchange’s Market Turnover Report for the period.
Trading during the nine-month period averaged N3.03 trillion daily, or approximately $2.22 billion, across 182 business days, highlighting the scale of activity in Nigeria’s foreign exchange and fixed-income markets.
Foreign exchange transactions accounted for the largest share of turnover, followed by OMO bills, which are short-term securities issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as part of its liquidity management operations.
Together, the two instruments generated N354.22 trillion, representing 64.26% of total turnover during the period.
Foreign exchange transactions accounted for N190.80 trillion, or 34.61% of total FMDQ turnover between January and September 2026.
OMO bills ranked second, recording N163.42 trillion, equivalent to 29.65% of market activity.
The combined turnover of the two segments underscores the significant role played by foreign exchange trading and short-term monetary policy instruments in Nigeria’s financial markets.
Repos and open repos followed with N75.60 trillion, representing 13.71% of total turnover.
Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) bonds recorded N46.67 trillion, while Treasury bills contributed N45.74 trillion.
Foreign exchange derivatives generated N24.91 trillion, accounting for 4.52% of the total, while unsecured placements and takings recorded N2.71 trillion.
Eurobonds contributed N1.01 trillion, while Sukuk transactions stood at N380.42 billion.
The figures show that activity was concentrated in a handful of instruments, with foreign exchange, OMO bills and repos accounting for the bulk of transactions during the period.
OMO turnover was approximately 3.57 times the value recorded for Treasury bills and about 3.5 times the turnover in FGN bonds.
When foreign exchange derivatives are added to spot and other FX transactions, total foreign exchange-related turnover rises to N215.71 trillion, representing 39.13% of the market.
Combined with OMO bills and repos, these segments accounted for approximately 77.97% of total turnover.
The distribution highlights the dominance of foreign exchange transactions and short-term money market instruments over other asset classes traded on the exchange.
The latest figures build on the N496.61 trillion in cumulative turnover recorded between January and August 2026.
A comparison of the January-to-August and January-to-September figures suggests that approximately N54.62 trillion in additional turnover was recorded in September.
The estimate is based on the difference between the two cumulative totals and may be subject to subsequent data adjustments.
Foreign exchange turnover increased by approximately N19.4 trillion between the two reports, while OMO turnover rose by about N16.5 trillion.
FMDQ’s weekly foreign exchange data also showed that bank-client FX turnover reached approximately $10.80 billion in September, with spot transactions accounting for 94.77% of the total.
The week ended September 11 recorded the highest weekly bank-client FX turnover during the month, at $3.39 billion.
The figures point to continued activity in the foreign exchange market, which remained the single largest contributor to overall turnover during the nine-month period.
On a daily basis, FX transactions averaged approximately N1.05 trillion, while OMO bills recorded an average of N897.92 billion.
Repos averaged N415.36 billion per business day, compared with N256.41 billion for FGN bonds and N251.32 billion for Treasury bills.
These figures further illustrate the concentration of trading activity in foreign exchange and money market instruments.
However, OMO turnover measures the value of transactions executed during the period rather than the outstanding stock of securities or the amount of liquidity withdrawn from the financial system.
Ten banks account for 75.44% of total turnover
Beyond the concentration in financial instruments, FMDQ trading activity was also dominated by a relatively small group of dealing member banks.
Stanbic IBTC Bank ranked first in the exchange’s league table, followed by First Bank of Nigeria and Coronation Merchant Bank.
The ten leading banks collectively recorded N415.85 trillion in turnover, representing 75.44% of the N551.23 trillion total.
The remaining banks outside the top ten accounted for approximately N135.38 trillion, or 24.56% of overall market activity.
The three highest-ranked banks recorded a combined N235.55 trillion, equivalent to about 42.73% of total turnover.
Their combined transactions also represented 56.64% of the turnover generated by the ten leading banks.
The other seven banks in the top ten accounted for approximately N180.30 trillion.
This means the three leading institutions handled about N55.25 trillion more in transactions than the other seven banks in the group combined.
The concentration points to the prominent role of major dealing banks in facilitating transactions across Nigeria’s wholesale financial markets.
However, the report does not provide individual turnover figures for the three leading banks or specify which instruments contributed most to each institution’s ranking.
Turnover reflects trading activity, not fresh capital inflows
The N551.23 trillion recorded during the nine-month period represents the cumulative value of transactions executed across FMDQ’s markets. It should not be interpreted as the amount of new capital raised or fresh investment entering Nigeria’s financial system.
Turnover can include repeated trading in the same instruments as market participants buy, sell and reposition their holdings.
The dollar equivalent of $403.08 billion was calculated using FMDQ’s average exchange rate of N1,367.68 per dollar. It does not imply that all transactions recorded during the period were denominated in US dollars.
Overall, the January-to-September figures highlight the continued dominance of foreign exchange and OMO instruments in Nigeria’s wholesale financial markets, alongside substantial trading concentration among the country’s largest dealing banks.
