…ASI increased by 51.19% year-on-year
Nigeria's equity market performed exceptionally well in 2025, delivering 51.19 per cent returns to investors, up from 37.65 per cent in 2024.
The market value increased by N36.62 trillion during the year, with total capitalization climbing to N99.4 trillion at the end of 2024 compared to N62.76 trillion.
Reflecting on the milestone year, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group), Temi Popola, said the market’s resilience stood out in 2025 despite domestic and global headwinds.
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“This performance underlines the importance of policy stability, purposeful reforms and strategic cooperation in strengthening investor confidence and sustaining market growth,” he said.
Popula said economic reforms, market structure improvements and continued investment in technology helped strengthen transparency, broaden access and support capital formation.
Looking ahead, he said NGX Group will deepen collaboration across the financial ecosystem to sustain the momentum into 2026 and position Nigeria's capital markets as a catalyst for economic growth and wealth creation.
Lizzie Kings-Wally, Chief Executive Officer of 4Stone Capital Limited, said the revaluation of naira-denominated assets in 2025 was largely driven by the delayed effects of 2023/24 currency devaluation and persistent inflation.
He said equities gained strongly despite average yields in the fixed income market at around 20 per cent, while alternative assets such as real estate and commodities also recorded solid returns.
“I remain cautiously optimistic given the discounted valuations of Nigerian equities compared to emerging and frontier markets,” she said.
Kings-Wally highlighted that the NGX All-Share Index traded at around 8x price-to-earnings, compared with 16.5x and 12.1x for the MSCI Emerging and Frontier Markets indexes, respectively. He described tier-1 banks like Zenith Bank and United Bank for Africa as significantly undervalued, and also expressed bullishness on industrials like Dangote Cement.
He expects consumer-goods stocks to benefit from lower inflation and improving purchasing power, while investors are advised to take advantage of current high fixed income yields ahead of a potential low-rate environment in 2026.
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While higher fiscal deficit and government borrowing might suggest otherwise, Kings-Walley believes increased money supply and risk-off banking sentiment will still support a decline in yields.
He said softening of inflation and liquidity conditions could ultimately soften returns on alternative assets including real estate.
