FTSE Russell to Upgrade Nigeria to Frontier Market Status
Two years after de-ranking, FTSE Russell has announced a plan to upgrade the Nigeria index to frontier market from unclassified status following its annual country classification review for countries monitored by its global equity and fixed income indices.
The reclassification stems from Nigeria’s elimination of capital controls that limit foreign investors’ ability to repatriate dollars abroad, the global index provider said in its annual country classification review for countries monitored by its global equity and fixed income indices.
According to the review, FTSE noted that the Nigerian market meets five FTSE Quality of Markets criteria required for attaining Frontier market status.
“Nigeria is being added to the Watch List for possible reclassification from Unclassified to Frontier market status as the market meets the five FTSE Quality of Markets criteria required for attaining Frontier market status”, the review note stated.
Nigeria was reclassified from Frontier to Unclassified market status from September 2023 due to significant and ongoing delays to the ability of international institutional investors to repatriate capital from Nigeria and the execution of foreign exchange (FX) transactions.
It said market participants have reported that the aforementioned FX queues had been cleared and that international institutional investors are no longer experiencing any material delays in their ability to repatriate capital from Nigeria.
Consequently, as Nigeria meets the five FTSE Quality of Markets criteria required for attaining Frontier market status within the FTSE Equity Country Classification scheme, Nigeria is added to the Watch List for potential promotion from Unclassified to Frontier market status.
FTSE Russell said it will provide an update on the Watch List status of Nigeria as part of the FTSE Equity Country Classification March 2026 Interim Review.
The global index also said it will continue to monitor developments closely and welcomes feedback from index stakeholders to enable the reclassification to proceed as planned in September 2026.
Fiona Bassett, chief executive officer at FTSE Russell, said, “FTSE Russell’s country classification framework is grounded in the principle of accessibility to global financial markets.
“Through ongoing, collaborative dialogue with the investment community, exchanges, regulators, and other key stakeholders, we maintain best practice, ensuring our indices accurately represent real investment opportunities and remain aligned with the needs of the market.” Foreign Investors Dump Nigeria, Ghana, Angola Eurobonds
