J.P. Morgan has included Nigeria in its newly introduced Government Bond Index–Emerging 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. Morgan’s Global Index Research report dated September 14, 2026, and confirmed by Nigeria’s 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, “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘉𝘰𝘭𝘢 𝘈𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘣𝘶’𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢. 𝘐𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢’𝘴 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘑.𝘗. 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘹.”
Nigeria’s 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 country’s bonds are returning to the J.P. Morgan benchmark universe more than a decade after Nigeria was removed from the bank’s flagship government bond index. Nigeria was initially admitted to J.P. Morgan’s 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, Nigeria’s 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. Morgan’s mainstream GBI-EM Global Diversified index.
Nigeria was placed on J.P. Morgan’s 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 bank’s flagship index in September 2015.
The country’s latest return to a J.P. Morgan benchmark follows efforts to improve the functioning of Nigeria’s 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 benchmark’s overall average yield of 10.39 per cent. However, the higher yield comes with currency risk, meaning foreign investors’ ultimate dollar returns will depend not only on bond yields and prices but also on movements in the naira.
J.P. Morgan’s 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. Morgan’s emerging and frontier-market benchmarks and could help improve the international visibility of the country’s 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. Morgan’s 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 Nigeria’s foreign-exchange and domestic debt markets are improving the accessibility and investability of the country’s local-currency assets.
