The naira remained broadly stable against the United States dollar on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, with the official Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) rate trading around the mid-₦1,360 band while the parallel market hovered in the low-₦1,400 range.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s NFEM platform showed the official exchange rate at about ₦1,364 per dollar, reflecting only marginal movement from recent sessions. The official rate is derived from the volume-weighted average of trades executed on the market and serves as Nigeria’s benchmark exchange rate.
Currency dealers in Lagos said the parallel market (black market) traded at approximately ₦1,405 per dollar for buying and ₦1,415 per dollar for selling on Wednesday morning, keeping the spread between the official and unofficial markets relatively narrow compared with the sharp gaps recorded in 2024 and early 2025. Recent market trackers have shown street-market quotes clustering around the ₦1,410 region.
At the prevailing official rate, $100 exchanged for roughly ₦136,400, while $1,000 was worth about ₦1.364 million. In the parallel market, the same amounts were valued at about ₦141,500 for $100 and ₦1.415 million for $1,000.
Market participants attributed the relative calm to continued liquidity management by the Central Bank of Nigeria and steady foreign-exchange supply through the formal market. Analysts also noted that importer demand has remained moderate, helping the naira hold within a relatively tight range in recent weeks.
Reuters reported that traders expect the naira to remain broadly stable in the near term, supported by the CBN’s presence in the market and efforts to ease demand pressure for dollars. The report placed recent official-market trading around the ₦1,360 level and street trading near ₦1,425 per dollar.
The official market has traded mostly between ₦1,362 and ₦1,370 per dollar in recent sessions, according to market data compiled by Proshare, underscoring the currency’s recent consolidation around the ₦1,360 range.
Proshare
For Nigerians monitoring exchange rates for travel, school fees, imports, or international payments, the key levels to watch today are about ₦1,364/$ at the official NFEM window and ₦1,415/$ in the parallel market.
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