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In a development that could raise the profile of naira-denominated government securities among international investors,
Nigeria has made a return to a J.P. Morgan government bond benchmark more than a decade after the country was removed from the bank’s flagship emerging-market index.
According to J.P. Morgan’s Global Index Research report dated September 14, 2026, Nigeria has been assigned a 7.4 per cent weighting in the newly introduced Government Bond Index–Emerging Markets Edge (GBI-EM Edge).
The benchmark is designed to track local-currency government debt across emerging and frontier markets whose bonds are not represented in J.P. Morgan’s mainstream GBI-EM Global Diversified index.
Nigeria’s inclusion covers $17.47 billion worth of eligible Federal Government of Nigeria bonds across 16 instruments. The securities have an average yield to maturity of 17.1 per cent, a duration of 3.38 years and a B- sovereign credit rating.
The new benchmark tracks approximately $328 billion in local-currency government debt across 425 instruments, 26 markets and 24 currencies.
This development marks a significant return for Nigeria, but it is important to note that the country has not been readmitted to the GBI-EM Global Diversified index. Instead, its bonds have been included in the separate GBI-EM Edge benchmark, which targets markets generally outside the flagship index.
Nigeria was first admitted to J.P. Morgan’s Government Bond Index in October 2012, following improvements in the domestic Federal Government bond market. The reforms included the development of market makers, a two-way quote system and a broader investor base.
However, the country’s inclusion lasted only a few years. In January 2015, J.P. Morgan placed Nigeria on its Index Watch list over concerns about foreign-exchange market illiquidity, difficulties in repatriating capital, limited transparency in exchange-rate determination and the absence of a functional two-way FX market.
Nigeria was subsequently removed from the index in September 2015 after the concerns remained unresolved.
The country’s relationship with J.P. Morgan’s emerging-market debt benchmarks remained cautious. In 2022, the bank also removed Nigeria from its overweight recommendation for emerging-market sovereign debt, citing macroeconomic risks.
By April 2025, however, Nigeria had reopened discussions with J.P. Morgan over a possible return to its Government Bond Index. The talks came as the government pursued reforms aimed at improving transparency, liquidity and functionality in the foreign-exchange market.
The latest inclusion also comes against the backdrop of major movements in the naira. J.P. Morgan data shows that the currency depreciated by 48.7 per cent in 2023 and another 41.9 per cent in 2024 following foreign-exchange reforms. The trend subsequently reversed, with the naira recording an FX return of 6.7 per cent in 2025 and 8.1 per cent in 2026 over the period covered by the report.
For foreign investors, that currency performance is crucial because returns on naira-denominated bonds depend not only on high domestic yields but also on movements in the exchange rate.
Nigeria’s inclusion in the GBI-EM Edge could therefore improve international visibility for its government debt, while offering investors exposure to securities yielding significantly above the index average of 10.39 per cent.
The move represents Nigeria’s return to a J.P. Morgan bond benchmark after more than a decade, even though a full reinstatement into the bank’s flagship GBI-EM Global Diversified index remains a separate matter.
