Nigeria’s return to a J.P. Morgan bond benchmark could attract about $17.5 billion to the country’s debt market and reduce bond yields by up to 200 basis points, Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele has said.
Oyedele disclosed this on Monday, September 14, 2026, at the signing ceremony of the NBET Finance Company Series 2 Bond in Abuja, describing the development as a major boost to the capital market.
Nigeria has been assigned a 7.4 per cent weighting in J.P. Morgan’s new Government Bond Index–Emerging Markets Edge (GBI-EM Edge), which tracks local-currency government debt across 26 markets.
The development marks Nigeria’s return to J.P. Morgan’s index family more than 11 years after its securities were removed from the bank’s earlier government bond benchmark in 2015.
Nigeria joined that index in 2012, becoming the second African country after South Africa to gain admission. J.P. Morgan subsequently began removing Nigerian bonds in 2015 amid concerns over foreign-exchange market liquidity and restrictions affecting investors’ access to the naira market.
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The current inclusion is in the newly created GBI-EM Edge, not J.P. Morgan’s flagship GBI-EM benchmark.
The new index is expected to track about $330 billion in local-currency government debt, with individual countries capped at an eight per cent weighting.
Oyedele said increased demand could improve market conditions for investors in the Federal Government’s Series 2 bond and potentially reduce future borrowing costs.
The $17.5 billion figure is a projection of potential investment, not a guaranteed inflow.
Nigeria’s renewed benchmark exposure comes as the government seeks to broaden its investor base, deepen the domestic capital market and secure cheaper financing.