Capital importation into Nigeria is reported to have tripled to about $1.5 billion as foreign investors rushed in to pick up cheap Nigerian assets.
According to a Reuters article, traders claimed the import was about 3 times the $502 million imported a week earlier.
Who got the inflow
A significant portion of the inflows found its way into the stock market with Dangote Cement leading the way with about $236 million in equity investment. Dangote Cement earlier in the week sold a 2.3% stake in equity to a strategic investor, in a deal that propelled its share price to a year high of about N242 per share.
The Nigerian Stock market has attracted significant local participation in the past few weeks as retail investors who anticipated the return of foreign investors, picked up stocks with relatively low valuations immediately after the investor window was announced.
As expected, most of the foreign investors have started coming back into Nigeria and picking up stocks that are traditional within their radar. Prices of the likes of Nestle, Unilever, FUGAZ, Nigeria Breweries have gained significantly over the last few weeks due to foreign investor participation.
Effect of Investor Window
The recent bullish run in the Nigerian Stock market is mostly attributed to the opening of the investor, exporter window by the CBN in April this year. The window was created as an option for foreign investors or exporters, looking to import forex into Nigeria at a rate that is not determined by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The window is partly operated by the FMDQOTC, a market place for bonds, forex and other investment securities (except equities).
Liquidity in the window is said to have improved over the last few months, leading to a declaration by the FMDQ that investors quote rates based on NAFEX rather than by phone calls as previously allowed.
