Economy
Foreign reserves falls by $1.3bn, CBN confirms
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Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $1.31bn in February 2025, reflecting sustained external pressures amid the recent appreciation of the naira.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria showed that reserves declined from $39.72bn on January 31, 2025, to $38.42bn on February 28, 2025, representing a 3.3 per cent drop within the month.
The decline in February was slightly higher than the $1.16bn drop recorded in January, highlighting the continued strain on the country’s external reserves.
The steady depletion of reserves has raised concerns amid rising speculations that the apex bank’s sustained interventions in the foreign exchange market, aimed at bridging liquidity gaps and stabilising the naira, have come at the cost of reducing external reserves.
Despite this, the local currency strengthened significantly against major foreign currencies in February, suggesting that the CBN’s efforts have had some positive impact in restoring confidence in the market.
Nigeria’s reserves recorded a consistent decline throughout February, with no single day of increase.
At the beginning of the month, reserves stood at $39.60bn on February 3, dropping to $39.54bn on February 4, signalling the start of a downward trend.
By February 7, reserves had fallen to $39.04bn, slipping further to $39.27bn on February 10.
The downward trajectory persisted into the second week of the month, with reserves standing at $39.15bn on February 12 and declining to $38.88bn by February 17.
By the third week of February, reserves had weakened further, dropping to $38.72bn on February 19 and $38.69bn on February 21.
As the month drew to a close, reserves had further declined to $38.41bn on February 28, reflecting a continuous downward trend throughout the month.
The fall in reserves has been attributed to multiple factors, including Nigeria’s heavy dependence on imports, which exerts pressure on foreign exchange reserves.
The country remains highly reliant on imports of industrial goods and food supplies, leading to high FX outflows.
Although oil prices have rebounded in recent months, Nigeria’s oil production challenges, crude theft, and pipeline vandalism have constrained forex inflows from the oil sector, limiting the CBN’s ability to shore up reserves.
The depletion of external reserves has also raised concerns over Nigeria’s capacity to meet external debt obligations.
The country holds significant foreign debt, and a further decline in reserves could weaken its ability to make timely debt repayments, potentially increasing borrowing costs.
A lower reserve level could also affect Nigeria’s credit rating and investor confidence, making it more expensive for the government to access international capital markets.
Despite the steady decline in reserves, the naira made notable gains against major foreign currencies in February, marking its strongest performance since the beginning of the year.
By the end of the month, the naira appreciated against the US dollar, closing at N1,540/$ from N1,620/$ at the start of the month, reflecting a 7.41 per cent gain.
It also strengthened against the British pound, rising from N2,000/£ to N1,910/£, marking a 4.50 per cent increase. Similarly, the naira appreciated against the euro, improving from N1,660/€ to N1,550/€, showing a 6.34 per cent gain.
The official exchange rate followed a similar trend, stabilising above N1,500/$ in the final weeks of February.
Data from the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market showed that the naira closed at N1,496/$ at the official window, narrowing the gap between the official and parallel market rates.
The convergence of the official and parallel market exchange rates indicates that Nigeria may be moving towards a unified forex market, reducing the speculation and arbitrage that have previously contributed to forex volatility.
Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has moved to forge a new public-private partnership that will bring banks, fintechs, insurers, virtual asset providers and regulators together to tackle increasingly sophisticated financial crimes and illicit financial flows.
The initiative, known as the Joint Financial Intelligence Collaboration (JFIC), is designed to create a trusted platform for public and private institutions to share financial intelligence, detect emerging threats and disrupt illicit financial networks.
The NFIU unveiled the framework at a stakeholders’ engagement in Abuja yesterday, with support from the British High Commission and the Convention for Business Integrity (CBi).
Representatives of banks, insurance companies, fintechs, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), technology firms, regulators and other stakeholders participated in the engagement, which was aimed at moving the proposed partnership from concept to implementation.
Representing the NFIU Chief Executive Officer, Hafsat Bakari, the Unit’s General Counsel, Felix Obiamalu, said the engagement marked a decisive turning point in the development of the initiative.
“We have moved from dialogue to design, to commitment and implementation,” Obiamalu said.
He stressed that the objective was no longer merely to discuss the concept, but to jointly determine the structure, operation and value of the partnership and how it could be sustained.
“The objective is no longer simply to discuss the concept. It is to jointly determine what this partnership should look like, how it should operate, what value it should create and how it can be sustained over time,” he said.
The NFIU said the initiative was premised on the recognition that no single institution could effectively combat modern financial crime in isolation, making intelligence sharing and coordinated action between government and industry increasingly critical.
Speaking on behalf of the British High Commission, Jehanzeb Khan, Illicit Financial Flows Officer at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), reaffirmed the importance of stronger collaboration between government and the private sector in combating illicit financial flows.
Managing Director of the Convention for Business Integrity, Olusoji Apampa, said the process was deliberately structured to place the private sector at the centre of decision-making.
According to him, this would ensure that the emerging framework reflects operational realities and secures broad ownership among stakeholders.
Delivering the keynote presentation, former Chair of the Egmont Group and former Director of South Africa’s Financial Intelligence Centre, Xolisile Khanyile, described private-sector participation in the fight against financial crime as a national responsibility.
She urged Nigeria to adopt a practical and phased approach to implementing the proposed collaboration.
“Trust, shared ownership and collaboration are the foundations of every successful public-private partnership,” Khanyile said.
She added that given Nigeria’s strategic importance within the global anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) framework, the initiative was both timely and necessary.
The engagement ended with strong stakeholder support for the proposed JFIC framework and a commitment to advancing a partnership capable of strengthening financial intelligence, improving threat detection and enhancing Nigeria’s response to increasingly sophisticated financial crimes.
Oil prices surged yesterday with Brent crude hitting over $107 per barrel for the first time since May, as traders braced for a more prolonged supply shock caused by the Iran war.
Oil prices have climbed back above the $100 per barrel mark this week as fighting in the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea has intensified. The US and Iran have traded strikes, while the Iran-backed Houthis have attacked Saudi Arabia and ignited tensions in the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
In Nigeria, fuel prices have continued to rise, with the cost of diesel (Automotive Gas Oil) reaching about N2,000 per litre in some locations, while petrol has climbed beyond N1,400 per litre in parts of the country.
The fresh increases are adding to pressure on businesses and households, particularly manufacturers, transport operators and other users that depend heavily on petroleum products for power and mobility.
The development has also raised concerns over a renewed increase in transportation and production costs, with businesses likely to pass higher energy expenses on to consumers through increased prices of goods and services.
The latest surge in pump prices comes despite increased domestic refining capacity, underscoring the continued impact of crude supply, distribution costs, market conditions and other factors on the pricing of petroleum products.
Yesterday, Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 6.1 per cent and traded at $107.40 per barrel while US crude rose 6.2 per cent and hit $102 per barrel for the first time since May.
Resurgent conflict has stoked concerns of further disruptions to global oil supplies and the flow of crude through the Strait of Hormuz.
“The step up in attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and by the Houthis against Saudi Arabia suggests that Iran and its proxies are trying to regain the initiative in the war,” Jason Tuvey, deputy chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, said in a note.
“This could set back the recovery in oil output in the Gulf and raises the risk that global energy prices rise even further in the coming weeks,” Tuvey said.
For the first time since the war started, S&P Global Energy said Thursday it does not expect Middle East oil production to return to pre-war levels by the end of next year. The firm no longer assumes a definitive end to the war nor a return to normal in the Strait of Hormuz by the end of 2027.
S&P now expects oil prices to stay high in the $80 to $100 a barrel range through next year.
The rise in oil prices has added to nerves about inflation and central bank rate hikes, sending ripples through bonds and stocks, a CNN report stated.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE has approved 32 banks, fintechs, mobile operators and other platforms through which investors can subscribe for its shares when the public offer opens.
The company published the list on its official IPO website, warning investors to subscribe only through channels listed on the platform.
The approved channels comprise 20 banks, 17 fintech companies, two mobile operators and NGX Invest.
The company said, “Only subscribe through the channels listed on this page. Do not subscribe through any channel not confirmed here.”
Access Bank
Ecobank
FCMB
Fidelity Bank
FirstBank
Globus Bank
GTCO
Jaiz Bank
Keystone Bank
Lotus Bank
PremiumTrust Bank
Providus Unity
Stanbic IBTC
Sterling Bank
TAJ Bank
UBA
Union Bank
VFD
Wema Bank
Zenith Bank
Fintechs
Bamboo
CardinalStone
Coronation Wealth
Cowrywise
Flutterwave
InvestNaija
InvestNow
Ladder
Meritrade
Moniepoint
Paga
Payaza
PiggyVest
Revve
Vetiva Invest
we.yan
ZedCrest
Mobile operators
Airtel SmartCash
MTN MoMo
NGX
NGX Invest
The refinery’s website currently lists the offer price at ₦525 per share, with a minimum subscription of 10 shares, valued at ₦5,250.
The public offer is part of the Dangote Refinery’s plan to raise capital from the Nigerian investing public through the sale of ordinary shares.
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