Nigeria has emerged as Africa's second-largest stock exchange in 2026, overtaking Morocco after almost two years of bullish growth, turning the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) into one of the continent's best-performing bourses.
Real-time trading platform Data compiled by AfriDigest, a pan-African strategic intelligence platform from African markets, showed that NGX was valued at $117 billion as of May 15, 2026, trailing only South Africa's Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), which remains the continent's largest bourse with a market capitalization of $1.5 trillion.
The latest ranking marks an improvement from 2025 when Nigeria was Africa's third largest stock market.
According to Daba Finance, an integrated investment platform, NGX was valued at $68.8 billion in 2025, supported by the reclassification of Nigeria to Frontier Market status by global index providers, increased foreign portfolio inflows, banking sector recapitalization efforts and strong corporate earnings in key sectors.
Also read: Eight stocks gave Nigerian investors over 200% returns in 5 months
“This follows an unprecedented rally that saw a five-fold increase in market capitalization from 2023 to date, driven by banking sector revaluation, aggressive forex reforms, strong corporate earnings, heavy domestic institutional participation and renewed foreign interest,” Afridigest said in a LinkedIn post.
Despite the boom, Afridigest said Nigeria's capital markets remain relatively shallow compared to the size of the economy.
“At a market capitalization of $117 billion, it represents just 35 percent of Nigeria's GDP. For a $377 billion economy, this is a thin capital market,” the forum said.
Reforms lead to record equity market performance
NGX has been one of the best performing markets in Africa this year. As of May 29, the NGX All-Share Index had risen 69.4 percent in dollar terms, the highest return among the 17 African stock exchanges tracked by African Markets.
Analysts attributed the rally to regulatory reforms, improving macroeconomic conditions and increased institutional participation. Pension reforms introduced in February expanded equity investment limits and imposed stricter capitalization requirements on pension fund administrators, allowing more retirement assets to flow into the stock market and boost liquidity.
Other market reforms implemented this year include the Securities and Exchange Commission's transition to a T+1 settlement cycle, new tiered minimum capital requirements for market operators, completion of banking sector recapitalization programs and extension of NGX trading hours.
South Africa continues to dominate as African equities rally
African equities are set to deliver some of the world's strongest returns in 2026, AfricaDigest said, even though many of the continent's exchanges are relatively small compared to the economies they serve.
After South Africa and Nigeria, Morocco's Casablanca Stock Exchange ranks third with a market capitalization of $111 billion, followed by Egypt's Exchange with $81 billion and Botswana Stock Exchange with $75 billion.
The regional Bourse Régionale des Valléers Mobilières (BRVM), which serves eight Francophone West African countries, was valued at $28 billion.
Kenya's Nairobi Securities Exchange was at $25 billion, followed by the Ghana Stock Exchange at $22 billion, the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange at $13 billion and the Uganda Securities Exchange at $12 billion.
African stock markets recorded one of their strongest performances in recent history in 2025, Daba Finance said in a recent report.
“Across the continent, equities posted double-digit gains in local currencies, with many markets also generating exceptional returns in US dollar and euro terms, supported by currency stabilization, easing inflation in major economies and a renewed global appetite for frontier and emerging market assets,” the platform said.
