Sustained pressure on the naira and the country’s diminished foreign reserves as well as declining earnings are the major obstacles to the return of foreign portfolio investors to Nigeria, a development that is hampering the recovery of the capital market recovery following the conclusion of the general elections, experts have said.

A combination of factors, including the declining fortunes of the naira, spurred by the oil slump, and uncertainty about corporate future of the country ahead of the general elections, had caused several foreign portfolio investors to trade cautiously with many others exiting the Nigerian capital market.

In 2014, foreign portfolio investors pulled out over N700bn from the stock market, forcing the Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index to close the year with a negative return of 16.14 per cent. Between January 1 and February 28 this year, they pulled out additional N132.53bn and brought in N100.38bn.

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