Uncertainty clouds 2025’s financial outlook. With the Naira’s fragile stability, many are questioning how long it will last, and the potential impact of fluctuating oil prices on our economy is a constant worry.
Navigating investments requires expert guidance. Learn how to safeguard and grow your finances, making informed decisions for a secure 2025.
While the NGX-ASI has shown promising growth, the lingering question of a possible downturn weighs heavily on investors’ minds.
Add to this, is the uncertainty of future outcomes of key economic figures such as inflation and economic output for the first three months of 2025.
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Last month, the National Bureau of Statistics released the rebased inflation figure for January at 24.48 percent from 34.8 percent the previous month.
This led the monetary policy committee to hold steady on all policy parameters, leaving the benchmark rates at 27.5 percent.
The decline in inflation figures casts a gloom on future figures. Analysts at Afrinvest, an investment firm, say that going forward, they anticipate that the month-on-month reading should begin to realign and better reflect reality beginning in February.
“However, we hold that the year-on-year reading may reflect a false narrative for most of 2025 due to artificially low base year indices,” it said.
To help make sense of these uncertain times, BusinessDay spoke with leading Nigerian investment experts. We’ll tackle the big questions investors face in a year that, while brimming with risk, could also bring significant rewards—with the right strategies tailored to our unique economic realities.
What are the odds of a big drop in the NGX-ASI this year, and how should I prepare?
The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) has posted positive returns for five consecutive years. Currently doing a year-to-date return of 3.86 percent.
Analysts at Afrinvest,, expect the bullish momentum to persist, and forecast a 30.4 percent gain from improved sentiment towards ongoing bank recapitalisation exercise, new listings, resilient corporate earnings, and expectation of CBN’s monetary policy easing in the second half of 2025.
However, “we remain cautious as weakening investor confidence could dampen further gains,” it says.
It is important to note that investing comes with risks such as market volatility, stock prices can rise or fall unexpectedly due to changes in the economy, company performance, or even global events.
In the light of a likely drop, Jennifer Awirigwe, an investment banker and financial planner, advises that investors leverage on some sectoral stocks such as banks, oil, and the food industry while sharing some stocks she’ll be investing in.
“The banking sector performs well, so I’ll be buying a lot of it like Zenith, GTB, Stanbic, also food companies always perform well as it is a necessity and I’ll be buying Presco, and for the energy sector I’ll be doing Oando,” she said.
Some other way to outperform the NGX-ASI index is to diversify the portfolio. One way to do so while still investing in stocks is via Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) or equity mutual funds. An example of a Nigerian ETF is the Stanbic ETF-30.
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What portfolio ratio of asset allocation suits the current climate?
In 2025, financial advisors suggest that investors know their financial temperament.
“Invest in markets and instruments that align with who they are,” says Stephen Fidelis, a fund manager. “There’s no point losing sleep or your peace over investments. Let your personality guide your portfolio. Who you are should shape what you invest in,” Fidelis said.
Asset allocation is the spread of investments across different asset classes (stocks, bonds, real estate, ETFs, etc.) to mitigate risk.
Gbolahan Ologunro, portfolio manager FBNQuest said ordinarily for a risk-neutral investor the allocation should be 50 percent equity and 50 percent bonds; however, Nigeria’s macroeconomic challenges do not allow much returns from the equities market. He therefore recommended a 60 percent allocation in fixed-income markets and 40 percent in equities for a neutral risk investor.
“I think the attractive yield on the fixed income market will continue to provide decent and stable returns. On equities, the market is still not that positive, but I think, investing in banking stocks, in corporate actions, should support better price performance for banking tickers. I think, in the telco space as well, is a good sector, investing ahead of the planned increase in telecom tariffs will also yield positive returns in the next one year. The cement space should also remain relatively stable in all improvements, Ologunro said.
He said for the fixed-income market, the money market fund is the best way to go about it, because you’re able to preserve your capital and earn a quarterly dividend.
How long will the naira remain stable?
Nigeria’s currency is making a comeback, and is now showing signs of stability.
The currency strengthened from N1,694 per/$1 to around N1,500.
“In March, we anticipate the naira will maintain its positive performance across FX segments, supported by the CBN’s continued dollar supply to Bureau De Change (BDCs) and Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), provided there are no adverse market shocks,” analysts at Afrinvest Securities Limited said.
However, there are concerns as regards the fall in crude prices affecting the exchange rate.
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Crude oil prices dipped on Tuesday after the U.S. government implemented fresh tariffs, raising concerns about global trade tensions and their potential impact on fuel demand.
The decline in crude prices poses a direct threat to Nigeria’s revenue targets, as the government benchmarked oil at $75 per barrel, and a drop in oil prices also raises concerns about Nigeria’s foreign exchange market, which relies heavily on crude sales for dollar liquidity.
The naira strengthened in the parallel market in February, from N1,600/$1 to N1,500/$1. However, with oil prices weakening, the naira depreciated slightly to N1,515/$1 on Tuesday.
Do Treasury-bills, and bond securities make sense if I’m feeling risk-averse? Especially now that yields are dropping?
Last year, yields on Treasury Bills and bonds grew to record high as a result of the hawkish stance of the MPC.
Just last month FGN bond yields hit their lowest since their issuance at the auction on Monday as the Debt Management Office (DMO) manages its debt obligation using shorter instruments.
The yield on the February bonds due in 2031 dropped to 19.33 percent from its record high of 22.50 percent last month, and that of April 2031 dropped to 19.20 percent from 21.79 percent, also a record high.
Although yields on the Treasury Bills are falling, they are still very attractive at over a two-digit return; yields on one-year instruments are usually single digit.
Going forward, analysts encourage investors to buy and add bonds to their portfolios as it might take a while before rates are at current levels again.
“Buy bonds to your portfolio, it will be hard getting rates at this level again. They hold their values till maturity and pay coupons every six months,” Balogun Efe, founder of Ayoolainvestng, a wealth management firm, said.
How do I protect my assets against rising prices?
In Nigeria, it is no secret that the naira’s value can fluctuate. When a local currency is rapidly losing value, foreign currency investments can help you hedge against inflation because currencies like the US dollar, euro, and British pound are more stable than the naira, and they tend to appreciate relative to it over time. By converting part of your savings into these currencies, you gain a shield against naira devaluation and inflation.
The value of your money can be preserved and even increased by selecting the appropriate saving options, diversifying into foreign assets, and implementing investment techniques that outperform inflation.
The goal is simple: put your naira to work in ways that counteract inflation’s effects.
Money Africa, a personal finance platform, suggests opening a dollar savings account, allowing you to save directly in dollars. It will help preserve the value of your money while still earning interest in dollars.
Other assets that can help hedge against inflation are US ETFs such as VGT (tech ETF), VOO (S&P 500 ETF), US stocks and US Treasuries.
Should I add crypto to my portfolio?
Bitcoin extended its decline this week, dropping to $82,361.8 by Friday from $83,908.30 last week Friday.
This pullback follows the fading euphoria that initially drove cryptocurrency prices higher after President Trump’s election victory, fueled by expectations of pro-crypto policies.
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However, with no concrete regulatory advancements or supportive measures, market enthusiasm has cooled.
Bitcoin’s performance is expected to remain subdued unless a bullish catalyst emerges, such as signals of a U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cut or a clear pro-crypto regulatory framework from the Trump administration.
The good news is that historically the best time to buy most assets is when they are trading at lower levels.
“The idea is to ‘buy low and sell high’. Most people buy ‘high (due to fear of missing out) and then sell low’, “Abdulrauf Aremu Bello, a portfolio manager at Cowrywise said.
