President Trump’s rhetoric and policies have significantly influenced investor sentiment, leading to selloffs in Nigerian equities, bonds, and the naira.
His threat of military action against Nigeria, prompted by reports of Christian murders carried out by Islamist militants, caused a major backlash in early November 2025.
Investors have lost nearly N800 billion since the US president’s critical tweets about Nigeria. Medium- and large-cap stocks in the banking, oil and gas, and consumer goods sectors experienced the largest declines.
Selloffs in stocks such as SKYAVN (-10.00 per cent), NASCON (-10.00 per cent), OANDO (-9.99 percent), NESTLE (-9.66 per cent), NEM (-8.20 percent), PZ (-6.02 percent), GTCO (-4.86 percent), ACCESSCORP (-2.95 percent), UBA (-2.47 per cent), ZENITHBANK (-2.30 per cent), NB (-2.10 percent), ETI (-2.05 percent), DANGSUGAR (-1.61 percent), and 27 others contributed to Tuesday’s decline.
Nigerian dollar-denominated bonds also suffered, making up all ten of the world’s worst-performing emerging-market bonds that day (yields increased as prices fell).
The naira’s value dropped 1% against the dollar, and foreign exchange inflows plunged to $1.04 billion from $1.37 billion the previous week in the official foreign exchange market.
Some analysts view these downturns as buying opportunities, despite ongoing economic reforms in Nigeria and the strong year-to-date (YTD) performance of the Nigerian Exchange before these events.
Trump’s proposed tariffs
Panic selling commenced immediately after Trump’s post on X, where he labeled Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” and threatened intervention
Analysts at Coronation Research had previously expected a “mild bullish tone” based on Q3 earnings, but this outlook quickly reversed. The Nigerian Stock Exchange’s YTD gain shrank from approximately 50% to 48% following the decline.
Trump’s proposed tariffs, ranging from 20% to 60% on imports—including those from emerging markets—initiated earlier in 2025, triggered a global downturn that significantly affected the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX).
Nigeria’s oil-dependent economy is facing risks as non-oil industries deal with export restrictions, and increased U.S. shale production reduces demand for Nigerian crude oil.
Global market fluctuations
Nigeria has relied on the U.S. and its allies for over $7.8 billion in security support and humanitarian aid over the past decade. A freeze or suspension of this aid could increase Nigeria’s borrowing needs and widen the fiscal gap, given the poor performance in oil revenues.
The seriousness of potential allegations is damaging Nigeria’s reputation, causing multinational companies to hesitate or even withdraw from continuing investments or exploring multi-sector opportunities in areas like energy, telecommunications, agribusiness, and fintech.
This could lead to deeper capital outflows, placing additional downward pressure on the naira, likely forcing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to intervene aggressively to stabilize it.
Political instability threats and global market fluctuations will continue to affect Nigeria’s All-Share Index (ASI), which ended the year up by 48%. There are expectations for a market spike by the end of 2025, driven by improvements in the balance of payments and positive external capital investments, which will help stabilize the market. This environment may create opportunities for investments in naira at bargain prices, leading to increased consumption and economic activism.
Overall, political disruptions have weighed heavily on the market, and the naira has lost about 2% in recent ranges. The market is still expected to perform in a balanced manner. The fundamentals of the market are heavily impacted, with restrictions recently relaxed to stabilize the situation.
