Domestic investors continued to consolidate their dominance at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), accounting for 82.31 per cent of total market transactions in the last 18 months.

The NGX Domestic and Foreign Portfolio Investment reports put the total market transactions at N21.5 trillion between January 2025 and June 2026. Of the amount, domestic investors accounted for N17.724 trillion, while foreign investors recorded N3.809 trillion.

It suggests that for N100 traded on the exchange during the period, domestic investors accounted for about N82, underlining the widening gap between the two investor classes.

The review showed that domestic investors consistently outperformed their foreign counterparts throughout the period, despite a temporary improvement in foreign participation since last year.

In 2025, domestic transactions amounted to N9.276 trillion, representing 77.79 per cent of the total market turnover (N11.924 trillion).

Further breakdown of transactions within the period also indicated that foreign transactions stood at N2.64 trillion, accounting for the remaining 22.21 per cent.

Although foreign participation improved in 2025, the grip slowed in the first half of 2026 as domestic investors significantly increased activities in the market.

For instance, between January and June 2026, domestic transactions surged to N8.44 trillion, representing 87.93 per cent of the total market turnover.

Foreign transactions stood at N1.16 trillion, representing only 12.07 per cent of trading during the period.

While foreign investors remained active in the Nigerian stock market, they were unable to match the pace of domestic investors, whose activities accelerated sharply during the first half of 2026.

In the entire 18-month period, domestic transactions exceeded foreign transactions by N13.915 trillion, reflecting the increasing influence of Nigerian institutional investors, pension fund administrators, asset managers and retail investors in the market.

Transactions executed by domestic investors were about 4.7 times the value of those recorded by foreign investors during the review period.

This suggests that the recent rally in the equities market was supported largely by local capital rather than foreign portfolio flows.

Foreign investors maintained a visible presence in the market in 2025 when their share of total transactions rose to 22.21 per cent. However, the improvement was not sustained into 2026 as the rapid expansion in domestic trading reduced foreigners’ share to 12.07 per cent in the first half of the year.

Operators argued that the trend was an indication of the growing importance of domestic investors in Nigeria’s capital market as they continue to provide liquidity, absorb new equity issuances and support trading activities despite global economic uncertainty and cautious foreign portfolio investment flows into emerging and frontier markets.

A former president of Ibadanzone Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Eric Akinduro, said the rising influence of domestic investors represented a positive development for the Nigerian capital market, noting that the market had previously been heavily influenced by foreign investors whose exit often triggered significant pressure.

According to him, the shift towards stronger domestic participation would support the growth and sustainability of the market because local investors are more likely to sustain commitment to the market through different economic cycles.