Lagos, Feb. 10, 2026 – Nigeria’ external reserves have risen to $49 billion as of Feb. 5, 2026.
Olayemi Cardoso, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), disclosed this in Abuja on Monday at the 2nd Edition of the National Economic Council (NEC) Conference.
He said the external reserves had risen steadily over the net reserve figure which was as low as $3 billion when the current administration took over.
The apex governor said the current administration had helped to stabilise the economy and protect the value of the naira, adding that the Central Bank had moved from struggling to find dollars to being a “net buyer” in the market.
He also said that the gap between the official and the black market exchange rates of the naira had effectively collapsed to under 2%.
Cardoso said this stability had restored confidence in the national currency, making Nigerians less afraid to hold naira.
He said the ere when naira was often rejected in other West African countries had changed because the currency is now predictability in the market.
The CBN governor also said that travelers no longer scrambled for foreign exchange as they could now use their Naira cards for international transactions.
He said the Nigeria currency is now more competitive in the market and advised those still hoarding foreign currency in the hope that the currency would crash to stop the practice.
Cardoso said foreign remittances had also improved significantly as the apex bank had worked hard to ensure it is now much easier for Nigerians in the diaspora to send money back home.
He said that banks are current recapitalization in the banking sector is to support the government’s goal of achieving a $1 trillion economy.
