Photo caption: J.P. Morgan
J.P. Morgan has included Nigeria in its newly introduced Government Bond IndexโEmerging Markets Edge, assigning Nigerian government bonds a 7.4 per cent weighting in the benchmark tracking local-currency sovereign debt across emerging and frontier markets.
The development was disclosed in J.P. Morganโs Global Index Research report dated September 14, 2026, and confirmed by Nigeriaโs Minister of Finance & Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, on his official X account. The inclusion gives naira-denominated Federal Government of Nigeria bonds renewed visibility among international fixed-income investors who track or benchmark their portfolios against J.P. Morgan indices.
The Minister, impressed with the development, said, โ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ญ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ, ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ข ๐๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ถโ๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข. ๐๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ง๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ต๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ขโ๐ด ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐.๐. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ข๐ฏโ๐ด ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐น.โ
Nigeriaโs 7.40 per cent allocation is close to the 8 per cent maximum weighting assigned to individual countries in the index. The benchmark includes $17.47 billion worth of eligible Nigerian government bonds across 16 instruments, with the securities recording an average yield to maturity of 17.1 per cent, an average duration of 3.38 years and a B- sovereign credit rating.
The Nigerian allocation is among the larger country weights in the GBI-EM Edge. Vietnam, Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Kazakhstan each have the maximum 8 per cent weighting, while Sri Lanka has 7.5 per cent. Kenya has a 6.91 per cent weighting, followed by Tunisia at 5.32 per cent and Uganda at 4.84 per cent. Frontier African markets collectively account for 44.5 per cent of the index, compared with 31.5 per cent for Asian markets.
Overall, the GBI-EM Edge tracks about $328 billion in local-currency government debt across 425 instruments, 26 markets and 24 currencies. J.P. Morgan said the expansion of the benchmark reflects the growing importance of frontier local-currency debt markets, as well as improvements in bond issuance, auction processes, post-trade infrastructure and access for foreign investors.
For Nigeria, the development is particularly significant because the countryโs bonds are returning to the J.P. Morgan benchmark universe more than a decade after Nigeria was removed from the bankโs flagship government bond index. Nigeria was initially admitted to J.P. Morganโs Government Bond Index in October 2012 following the development of a more active domestic Federal Government bond market, supported by market makers, a two-way quote system and a broader investor base.
However, Nigeriaโs latest inclusion should not be described as a reinstatement into the GBI-EM Global Diversified index. The GBI-EM Edge is a separate benchmark designed to capture local-currency government debt from emerging and frontier economies whose domestic bonds are not represented in J.P. Morganโs mainstream GBI-EM Global Diversified index.
Nigeria was placed on J.P. Morganโs Index Watch list in January 2015 amid concerns over foreign-exchange market illiquidity, difficulties repatriating capital, limited transparency in exchange-rate determination and the absence of a functional two-way foreign-exchange market. The country was subsequently removed from the bankโs flagship index in September 2015.
The countryโs latest return to a J.P. Morgan benchmark follows efforts to improve the functioning of Nigeriaโs foreign-exchange market and the broader investment environment. Nigeria reopened discussions with J.P. Morgan in 2025 over a possible return to its government bond index, with Debt Management Office Director-General Patience Oniha pointing to reforms in the foreign-exchange market.
The relatively high yields on Nigerian securities could also make the country attractive to international fixed-income investors seeking higher returns. The 17.1 per cent average yield on the Nigerian securities in the Edge index is significantly above the benchmarkโs overall average yield of 10.39 per cent. However, the higher yield comes with currency risk, meaning foreign investorsโ ultimate dollar returns will depend not only on bond yields and prices but also on movements in the naira.
J.P. Morganโs data showed that the naira depreciated by 48.7 per cent in 2023 and another 41.9 per cent in 2024 following the foreign-exchange reforms. The currency subsequently recorded positive foreign-exchange returns of 6.7 per cent in 2025 and 8.1 per cent in 2026 over the period covered by the report.
The significance of the latest development therefore extends beyond the 7.4 per cent weighting. The inclusion places Nigerian Federal Government bonds before a wider pool of global investors who monitor J.P. Morganโs emerging and frontier-market benchmarks and could help improve the international visibility of the countryโs local-currency debt market.
The GBI-EM Edge initially comprised 11 markets and 76 bonds worth about $56 billion based on its 2017 inception. By August 31, 2026, the benchmark had expanded to 26 markets, 425 instruments and approximately $328 billion in local-currency government debt.
For Nigeria, the 7.4 per cent allocation represents a significant, albeit partial, return to J.P. Morganโs benchmark universe after more than a decade. It could strengthen the visibility of naira-denominated government securities among international portfolio managers while providing another indication that reforms to Nigeriaโs foreign-exchange and domestic debt markets are improving the accessibility and investability of the countryโs local-currency assets.
