Nigeria moved into a net lending position of $320 million ($0.32 billion) in Q3 2025, marking a major turnaround in its external financial posture after recording a net borrowing position of $6.90 billion in Q2 2025.
This is according to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s latest Balance of Payments (BoP) Highlights.
A net lending position means the country acquired more foreign financial assets, including reserve accumulation, than it received from foreign investments and borrowings during the period. In simple terms, Nigeria put more capital into the global financial system than it took in.
What the report is saying
The report read, “Financial account recorded a net lending position of US$0.32 billion in Q3 2025, as against a net borrowing of US$6.90 billion in Q2 2025. The economy acquired more financial assets (accretion to reserves) than it received (for foreign investments).”
The shift from heavy net borrowing in Q2 to a modest $320 million net lending surplus in Q3 represents one of the sharpest quarterly swings in Nigeria’s financial account in recent years.
The CBN report shows that the improvement was driven by a combination of factors. Foreign direct investment (FDI) liabilities rose significantly to $0.72 billion in Q3 2025, up from $0.09 billion in Q2 2025, signalling stronger participation by long-term equity investors in the Nigerian economy.
Conversely, portfolio investment inflows declined to $2.51 billion, compared with $5.28 billion in the previous quarter, meaning short-term capital moderated while longer-term flows improved.
On the asset side, Nigerians increased their foreign financial asset holdings. The data show portfolio investment assets recorded an outflow of $0.82 billion in Q3 2025, while direct investment assets recorded a reversal of $0.16 billion. In addition, other investment liabilities recorded $0.84 billion in inflows, and other investment assets showed a reversal of $0.86 billion in the same period. These combined movements helped push the financial account into positive territory.
Nigeria’s external buffers strengthened materially in the same quarter. External reserves rose to $42.77 billion as of end-September 2025, up from $37.81 billion at end-June 2025, a 13.12% increase in just three months.
At the same time, the overall balance of payments recorded a surplus of $4.60 billion in Q3 2025, compared with a deficit of $0.27 billion in Q2 2025. Net Errors and Omissions, which capture untracked cross-border movements, also narrowed sharply to -$3.09 billion, from -$12.71 billion in the preceding quarter.
This combination of rising reserves, a BoP surplus, and improved FDI suggests a more stable external-financing backdrop during the period.
What does becoming a net lender mean for Nigeria
- Becoming a net lender of $320 million in Q3 2025 is generally seen as a positive indicator for external sustainability. It means Nigeria was less dependent on foreign debt and speculative inflows during the quarter and instead strengthened its external balance sheet through reserve accumulation and asset holdings abroad.
- It also coincided with a shift toward more stable capital flows, with FDI improving while portfolio inflows declined, an important development for FX-market resilience.
- However, the improvement came from a relatively small surplus, and Nigeria still faces structural pressures from large service-sector and income-account deficits.
