Nigerian stocks fell Monday after equities market index and benchmark provider FTSE Russell said it downgraded Nigerian equities from “frontier market” to “unclassified market”, citing the country’s foreign exchange problems.
The announcement sent Nigerian stocks tumbling by 1.24%. Year-to-date returns plummeted 31.11%.
UK-based FTSE Russell said forex reforms by the Nigerian government, which has seen the naira devalued, have not eased the crisis to allow investors repatriate capital. The reclassification takes effect September 18.
“Consequently, as index changes for Nigeria within FTSE Russell equity indices have been suspended since September 2022 and with no improvement in the ability of international institutional investors to repatriate capital at a foreign exchange rate that would be used in FTSE Russell equity indices, following ratification by the FTSE Russell Index Governance Board, FTSE Russell announces that the FTSE Equity Country Classification status of Nigeria will be downgraded from Frontier to Unclassified market status…,” it said in a statement.
Rival index provider MSCI said in June that it would defer its plan to remove Nigeria from its frontier markets list, to allow a review of the impact of foreign exchange reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu.
The index provider had considered reclassifying Nigeria as a “standalone country” in response to difficulties foreign investors faced accessing the Nigerian equity market and repatriating their money as a result of dollar shortage.
MSCI said it will consult further with market participants until September 29, and will announce a decision on or before October 31.
Why this matters
Investment index entities such as MSCI, FTSE Russel and S&P classify countries as developed, emerging, and frontier markets considering certain indicators of their financial markets. The classification helps international investors decide on investing in those markets.
A frontier market is regarded as being higher than a least-developed country’s market, but too small, unstable, or short of forex to be an emerging market economy. An upgrade between the classes can boost investment in a country and attract foreign capital, and a downgrade can drive investors away.
FTSE Russel’s downgrade means Nigeria will be removed from all five FTSE stock indices.
The impact on Nigerian stocks was particularly felt in the top tier banks with Guaranty Trust Holding Co. (GTCO) falling by 8.62%, and Access Bank falling by 8.57% and Zenith Bank declining by 5.82%.
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