• Analysts see higher yield as CBN auctions N1.15tr T-Bills 

Nigeria and other African countries are set to benefit from €557 million from the European Union (EU)’s €1.9 billion in humanitarian aid as part of the budget for 2026.
 
This was as analysts project a mild uptick in the yields of the one-year treasury bill (T-Bills) at the primary auction yesterday, where N1.15 trillion worth of bills will be put up for sale by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
 
The EU disclosed this yesterday in a statement by its delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS Embassy’s Press Officer, Modestus Chukwulaka, in Abuja.
 
According to the statement, the funding will support life-saving interventions across West and Central Africa, the Sahel, the Lake Chad basin, North-West Nigeria, Central Africa, Southern Africa, the Great Lakes region, and the Greater Horn of Africa, with an additional €14.6 million allocated specifically to North Africa.
 
European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, explained that the announcement comes at a time when 239 million people worldwide require urgent humanitarian assistance, even as traditional donors are scaling back funding.  
 
She is currently at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, to engage private-sector actors and mobilise innovative financing solutions to complement public funding and expand aid reach.
 
“The humanitarian system is under unprecedented strain, and public funding alone will not meet the scale of the crisis. Europe is taking action, committing an initial €1.9 billion for 2026,” Lahbib remarked. “As the largest humanitarian donor, we are taking our political responsibility and leading the global response. That is why I am in Davos: to mobilise the private sector to think bigger, move faster and act together. This is a test of solidarity, and Europe is rising to the challenge.”  
 
In addition to Africa, the EU’s funding plan includes €448 million for the Middle East, particularly Gaza, Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon; €145 million for Ukraine, with an additional €8 million for Moldova; €126 million for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran; €95 million for Central and South America and the Caribbean; and €73 million for South-East Asia and the Pacific, including Myanmar and Bangladesh.  
 
More than €415 million has also been reserved for sudden-onset emergencies worldwide and to maintain a strategic humanitarian supply chain.
MATILDA Adefalujo, fixed income analyst at Meristem Stockbrokers, said: “We expect stop rates to hover around current levels, with a mild upward bias at the long end of the curve. Given the frontloading of government borrowings.”
 
 The CBN conducted its second T-Bills Primary Market Auction (PMA) for the year and the month yesterday, with a total offer of N1.15 trillion across the three maturities: N150 billion for the 91-day, N200 billion for the 182-day, and N800 billion for the 364-day tenors.
 
The 2026 fiscal year has come with a N23.85 trillion deficit, and the Federal Government is looking to the domestic market to fund the lion’s share of it.
 
The released calendar for Nigeria T-Bills auction for Q1 2026 shows that the government will have most of its borrowing this period. The issuance calendar shows an intended borrowing of N7.55 trillion proposed for the first three months of the year.
 
For this reason, analysts forecast a spike in yields during the first quarter. Lead Economist at CardinalStone, Olaolu Boboye, said in their report that they see a yield of 18 per cent to 20 per cent on one-year NTB.
 
“Overall, we advise fund managers to play at the short to mid segment of the curve, especially in H1’26,” he said.  Demand was very strong at the latest auction, with investors offering a total of N1.54 trillion. Most of the interest went to the 364-day bill, which attracted N1.38 trillion (the vast majority of the total).
 
The 91-day and 182-day bills saw much lower interest, bringing in only N112.36 billion and N49.91 billion, respectively. Interest rates (stop rates) rose across the board compared to the last auction in 2025.