Nigeria’s government aims to secure an investment-grade sovereign rating within three years and is seeking readmission to J.P. Morgan’s flagship emerging-market bond index after entering a separate benchmark.
Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele presented the rating target at an Oct. 19 conference in Abuja, BusinessDay and TheCable reported. The Finance Ministry had earlier described putting Nigeria on a path toward investment grade as a medium-term ambition, without giving a date for achieving the rating.
Nigeria’s naira-denominated government bonds had a 7.4% weight in J.P. Morgan’s GBI-EM Edge in a Sept. 14 report, the Finance Ministry said. That inclusion does not amount to a return to GBI-EM Global Diversified, the flagship index Nigeria left in 2015. The ministry identified limited foreign-exchange liquidity and difficulties repatriating capital as reasons for the earlier exit.
The country has also regained a place in a global equity-market classification. FTSE Russell moved Nigeria from Unclassified to Frontier status effective Sept. 21. MSCI, a separate index provider, moved its Nigeria indexes to Standalone status in 2024 after investors reported problems converting currency and repatriating capital. Those equity classifications are separate from Nigeria’s position in J.P. Morgan’s bond indexes.
Officials launched Nigeria Capital Market Masterplan 2.0, a roadmap covering 2026 through 2036, alongside a national savings scheme at the Abuja conference. FSD Africa, the plan’s technical partner, said the measures aim to bring more Nigerians into formal savings and investment products while expanding financing options for businesses.
Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission Director-General Emomotimi Agama described savings as a source of investment. FSD Africa said the previous masterplan completed 63% of its activities.
The new roadmap sets a 2036 goal of $56 billion in collective investment scheme assets, compared with $5.6 billion at the start of the plan. It also targets $10 billion in annual diaspora investment through capital markets, up from $4 billion. Those figures are goals for the plan period, not funds already raised.
