By Abidemi Samuel
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The Nigerian naira showed signs of strength against the US dollar on the first workday of 2025, appreciating marginally by N0.02 to N1,538.23 per dollar on Thursday, compared to N1,538.25 on Tuesday, according to data from FMDQ ¹. This slight gain comes after a significant depreciation of 41% against the dollar in 2024, compared to 2023.
However, the parallel market told a different story, with the naira falling to N1,665 per dollar on Thursday, down from between N1,655 and N1,660 exchanged on Tuesday. This disparity highlights the ongoing challenges in Nigeria’s foreign exchange market.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s New Year message to Nigeria included a promise to stabilize the naira against the dollar. In his 2025 budget proposal, Tinubu set the exchange rate at N1,500 per dollar, sparking optimism about the currency’s prospects.
Experts, such as Muda Yusuf, director and CEO of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), believe that the naira’s stability will be maintained through 2025, driven by factors like Nigeria’s foreign reserves exceeding $40 billion and the import substitution impact of newly operational refineries.
Others, like Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, are even more optimistic, predicting a stronger naira by the first quarter of 2025, driven by the resumption of full operations by refineries and policy revitalization in the foreign exchange market.
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