J.P. Morgan has added Nigeria to its newly introduced Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets Edge (GBI-EM Edge), assigning the country a 7.4% weight in the benchmark for local-currency government debt across frontier markets.
According to J.P. Morgan’s Global Index Research report dated September 14, 2026, Nigeria has $17.47 billion worth of eligible government bonds across 16 instruments included in the index.
The Nigerian securities have an average yield to maturity of 17.1%, a duration of 3.38 years and a B- sovereign credit rating.
Nigeria’s 7.4% allocation is close to J.P. Morgan’s maximum country weighting of 8%.
Vietnam, Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Kazakhstan each have an 8% weighting in the index, while Sri Lanka has 7.5%, Kenya 6.91%, Tunisia 5.32% and Uganda 4.84%.
The new GBI-EM Edge tracks approximately $328 billion in local-currency government debt across 425 instruments, 26 markets and 24 currencies. Frontier African markets account for 44.5% of the index, compared with 31.5% for Asian markets.
Nigeria’s inclusion comes more than a decade after the country was removed from J.P. Morgan’s flagship Government Bond Index in 2015.
Nigeria was first admitted into J.P. Morgan’s Government Bond Index in October 2012 following the development of an active domestic Federal Government bond market supported by market makers, a two-way quote system and a broad investor base.
However, J.P. Morgan placed Nigeria on its Index Watch list in January 2015 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 foreign exchange market.
Nigeria was subsequently removed from the index in September 2015.
In 2022, J.P. Morgan separately removed Nigeria from its overweight emerging-market sovereign debt recommendation, citing macroeconomic risks.
By April 2025, Nigeria had reopened discussions with J.P. Morgan over a possible return to its Government Bond Index, with Debt Management Office Director-General Patience Oniha pointing to reforms in the foreign exchange market.
The discussions followed reforms aimed at improving transparency, liquidity and functionality in Nigeria’s foreign exchange market.
However, the latest inclusion does not represent Nigeria’s return to the GBI-EM Global Diversified, J.P. Morgan’s flagship emerging-market government bond index.
The GBI-EM Edge is a separate benchmark designed to capture emerging and frontier economies whose local-currency government bonds are not represented in the GBI-EM Global Diversified.
To qualify for the index, countries must meet J.P. Morgan’s sovereign classification requirements, while their onshore local-currency debt must not already be included in the GBI-EM Global Diversified.
Eligible bonds must generally be fixed-rate or zero-coupon sovereign securities, have more than 2.5 years remaining to maturity at entry and meet a minimum outstanding size equivalent to $250 million.
J.P. Morgan’s data shows that Nigerian securities in the new index have an average yield of 17.1%, compared with 10.39% for the overall benchmark.
The higher yields could increase the attractiveness of Nigerian government bonds to international fixed-income investors, although currency movements remain an important consideration for foreign investors.
According to J.P. Morgan, the naira depreciated by 48.7% in 2023 and another 41.9% in 2024 following Nigeria’s foreign exchange reforms.
The trend subsequently reversed, with the naira recording an FX return of 6.7% in 2025 and 8.1% in 2026 based on the period covered by the report.
J.P. Morgan said the GBI-EM Edge initially comprised 11 markets and 76 bonds worth about $56 billion at its 2017 inception.
By August 31, 2026, the index had expanded to 26 markets, 425 instruments and approximately $328 billion in local-currency government debt.
The bank said the expansion reflects the growing importance of frontier local-currency debt markets, alongside improvements in benchmark bond issuance, auction processes, post-trade infrastructure and accessibility for foreign investors.
For Nigeria, the 7.4% allocation puts its naira-denominated Federal Government bonds among the major exposures in J.P. Morgan’s new frontier-market debt benchmark and could increase their visibility among global investors that track the index.
