How Nigerian investors balanced stocks, fixed-income assets in H1 2026 — NESG

•Edge foreign counterparts with record 87.9%  share

Nigerian investors significantly increased their dominance of the domestic capital market in the first half of 2026, balancing opportunities in equities with strong demand for fixed-income securities amid a broad-based market rally, the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) has said.

The development came as the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) surged by 91.2 percent to 229,419 points in H1 2026, from 119,978.6 points recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.

The NESG disclosed this in its latest H1 2026 State of the Economy Report, titled “Turning Potential into Progress,” noting that the stock market rally was supported by improved corporate earnings, relative exchange rate stability and renewed investor confidence following the banking sector recapitalisation programme.

According to the report, domestic investors were the major drivers of the equity market’s strong performance, with their share of total market transactions rising sharply from 72.9 percent in H1 2025 to 87.9 percent in H1 2026.

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In contrast, foreign investor participation fell from 27.1 percent to 12.1 percent during the period.

The shift, the NESG said, indicates that the strong performance of the equities market was largely driven by increased domestic liquidity rather than foreign portfolio inflows.

The report noted that although Nigeria’s stock market ranked among the world’s best-performing equity markets during the first half of the year, the broader economic recovery had translated into productive investment only modestly.

At the same time, institutional investors, including Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), commercial banks…