Foreign Investors Pour Record Funds Into African Stocks as NGX Sees N2.03 Trillion

, The stakes. African stock exchanges are drawing record foreign portfolio flows in 2025 and 2026, led by Nigeria and Kenya., The date. NGX Lagos recorded N2.03 trillion in foreign transactions between January and October 2025, the highest since 2007., The exchanges. The main venues are the JSE in Johannesburg, Nairobi Securities Exchange, NGX Lagos, Casablanca Stock Exchange, and Cairo’s EGX., The access. Non-residents can open accounts via local brokers or international intermediaries, with no blanket ownership caps on most listed shares., The risk. Currency swings and repatriation rules, such as Nigeria’s Certificate of Capital Importation, shape real returns for foreign buyers.

Foreign money is returning to African equity markets at a pace not seen in years, lifting turnover on exchanges from Lagos to Nairobi. For non-resident investors, the practical path into these markets now runs through a clearer set of brokers, custodians, and repatriation rules than in previous cycles.

Five exchanges dominate African equity trading for foreign portfolios. They are the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa, the Nairobi Securities Exchange in Kenya, the Nigerian Exchange Group in Lagos, the Casablanca Stock Exchange in Morocco, and the Egyptian Exchange in Cairo.

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange is the largest by market capitalisation and liquidity. South Africa maintains a largely open capital account for portfolio flows, meaning foreigners may buy and sell listed equities freely after standard KYC and AML checks.

The Nairobi Securities Exchange is a smaller but accessible market. Foreign investors can open Central Depository and Settlement Corporation accounts via NSE-licensed brokers using passport identification and bank or custodian details.

The Nigerian Exchange Group routes foreign orders through local NGX trading members. Trades settle through the Central Securities Clearing System, the central clearinghouse for Nigerian equities.

The Casablanca Stock Exchange and the Egyptian Exchange complete the main five. Morocco’s exchange has no restrictions on foreign participation in listed securities, according to the U.S. State Department’s 2025 Investment Climate Statement.

Foreigners can access most African exchanges through two main routes. The first is an international broker that routes orders to the local market.

The second is a local exchange member that opens a non-resident account. In South Africa, these accounts are often linked to non-resident rand or custodian accounts.

In Kenya, foreign investors open CDSC accounts through NSE-licensed brokers. There are no broad foreign-ownership caps on most NSE-listed companies, though certain strategic sectors may have local-ownership rules.

In Nigeria, foreign buyers must register with the Central Bank of Nigeria under the Foreign Portfolio Investment regime. They obtain Certificates of Capital Importation to ensure future repatriation of capital and dividends.

International brokers that offer African equities typically handle the local paperwork. Minimums vary by broker and market, often reflecting local board lot sizes rather than a fixed cash threshold.

Foreign investor participation on the Nairobi Securities Exchange swung sharply across 2025. In the first quarter, foreign investors averaged 38.24% of total equity turnover, down 5.59 percentage points from 43.83% in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The second quarter brought a rebound. Foreign participation averaged 46.68%, an 8.44 percentage point increase from the first quarter, according to Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority Statistical Bulletin.

Monthly data showed the volatility. Foreign participation hit 59.51% of turnover in April 2025, then dropped to 36.06% in May and 44.47% in June.

The third quarter reversed again. Foreign participation fell to an average of 30.12%, a 16.56 percentage point decrease from the second quarter.

Foreign investors sold more than they bought in the third quarter. Purchases totalled KSh 11.76 billion and sales reached KSh 15.06 billion, producing net outflows of KSh 3.84 billion, about US$30 million.

The foreign participation numbers track shifts in investor sentiment rather than a single index level. Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority reports the figures quarterly, with the Q3 2025 bulletin showing the sharpest decline of the year.

Finance in Africa, citing CMA data, put foreign participation at 28.01% in September 2025, down from 31.28% in August. That monthly slide contributed to the weak third-quarter average.

For foreign investors, these swings matter because they signal local versus external demand. A rising foreign share of turnover often accompanies larger inflows, as seen in April 2025.

The number of foreign accounts fell slightly across the year. Foreign corporate investors declined from 391 in Q1 2025 to 381 in Q2, while foreign individual investors fell from 8,046 to 7,997.

No single NSE index level is available in the research batch. The participation rates remain the clearest verified measure of foreign activity on the Nairobi market.

Nigeria produced the standout foreign flow story of 2025. Between January and October, foreign investor transactions on the Nigerian Exchange Group reached N2.03 trillion, the highest level since 2007.

That N2.03 trillion figure is roughly US$1.35 billion at prevailing naira rates in late 2025. The previous year’s comparable period saw N744.34 billion.

Foreign inflows in the first ten months totalled N1.12 trillion, exceeding outflows of N909.56 billion. The net inflow marked a decisive shift from earlier years.

Foreign investor market share climbed to 21.18% through October 2025, up from 16.65% in the same period of 2024. Year-over-year foreign transactions grew 172.37%.

By November, the full-year picture showed foreign portfolio investments at N2.19 trillion, or 20.77% of total NGX equity transactions. Domestic investors contributed N8.35 trillion, or 79.23%.

March 2025 marked the single most dramatic month for foreign participation on the exchange. Foreign portfolio transactions leapt from N42.65 billion in February to N699.89 billion in March, a 1,541% increase.

Foreign investors accounted for 62.74% of total equity transactions that month. Foreign inflows reached N349.97 billion, nearly equal to outflows of N349.92 billion.

The March surge meant foreign investors injected N814.05 billion in the first quarter, representing 36.47% of total N2.23 trillion transactions.

The momentum cooled in later months but remained elevated. Through July, total foreign portfolios stood at N1.28 trillion, more than double the N598 billion recorded in the same period of 2024.

By year-end, foreign share of NGX trading rose from 15.98% in 2024 to 20.77% in 2025, according to AllAfrica citing NGX data.

Morocco keeps its equity market open to foreign capital. The U.S. Department of State’s 2025 Investment Climate Statement confirms the Casablanca Stock Exchange has no restrictions on foreign participation in listed securities.

That open regime covers both direct foreign buying and portfolio investment. Foreign investors trade through licensed Casablanca brokers under standard account-opening rules.

Cairo’s Egyptian Exchange is the fifth major venue. In the first half of 2025, the EGX attracted 123,000 new retail investors, according to the exchange chairman cited by Zawya.

The EGX30 index, Egypt’s benchmark of the 30 most liquid stocks, climbed 11.6% in the third quarter of 2025, according to Amwal Al Ghad.