Nigeria’s equities market closed 2025 on one of its strongest notes in nearly two decades, with the NGX All-Share Index delivering a 51.19% year-to-date gain, its best performance in 18 years.
The benchmark index ended the year at 155,613.03 points or a 51.19% gain, supported by strong rallies in selected banking, cement, and food stocks that significantly outperformed the broader market.
However, beneath the headline index performance, market outcomes were sharply uneven.
While a handful of stocks recorded extraordinary gains, others suffered steep declines, creating stark winners and losers among Nigeria’s wealthiest investors.
These divergent price movements translated directly into shifts in the paper fortunes of the country’s leading billionaires.
In total, the six Nigerian billionaires tracked in this analysis collectively added an estimated N11.36 trillion to their paper wealth in 2025, after accounting for both gains and losses across their listed equity holdings.
The bulk of this value creation came from a narrow group of stocks, underscoring how concentrated the rally truly was.
Nigerian billionaires with the highest share price gains and losses in 2025
Gain: N67.45 billion (estimated)
Femi Otedola ended 2025 with a modest net gain in his listed equity portfolio, despite price weakness in Geregu Power Plc.
Geregu shares declined marginally from N1,150 to N1,141.50, translating into a N16.59 billion loss on his 1.95 billion indirect shares.
This decline was more than offset by gains in First HoldCo Plc, whose share price surged from N28.05 to N47.90. Otedola’s combined 4.23 billion shares in the bank generated a N84.04 billion capital gain.
Overall, his listed holdings closed the year with a net gain of N67.45 billion.
