Black Market Dollar to Naira Rate Stays High in Nigeria
Another day, another jump at the parallel market. If you tried to swap dollars for naira in Nigeria on March 26, 2025, you probably felt the sting. The black market rate for the US dollar shot up again—buyers had to fork out between N1,565 to N1,570 for each buck, while sellers hiked prices as high as N1,580. Meanwhile, the official Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rate sat stubbornly lower at N1,531.2. That’s a nasty gap of almost N40 per dollar, but absolutely nothing new for ordinary Nigerians scrambling to pay for imports, school fees, or just get by in daily life.
If you checked rates in Lagos, the story was the same. The city’s parallel market—often the early indicator for the rest of the country—opened at N1,570 to the dollar. Cash was king. Street traders and Bureau De Change operators kept their eyes glued to their phones, updating rates by the minute. Cash transactions always grabbed higher rates, while bank transfers or less liquid deals left some room for bargaining. And it wasn’t just the greenback making waves.
Foreign Currencies See Surges Beyond Official Rates
The black market didn’t just chase dollars. The British pound shot up too, going for N2,010 to buy and up to N2,030 if you needed to sell fast. Euros weren’t much better—buying rates moved around N1,680 and selling climbed to N1,700. For anyone dealing with China, the yuan traded at N215 for buyers and N220 for sellers, all well above CBN’s official rates of N211.01 and N211.15.
Those official rates felt like fiction to most traders. According to the CBN, the British pound’s buying price stuck at N1,984.09, and the euro at N1,656.73. Even the Saudi Riyal stood officially at N407.77, far from what anybody got on the street.
So, what’s fueling all this? There’s always a mix—Nigeria’s economic headwinds, the pressure on foreign reserves, and a long-running mismatch between what people need and what the official market can deliver. Speculators love the chaos, snapping up currencies when demand spikes and flipping them later for tidy profits. Sometimes, a new government policy or even rumors can send traders into a frenzy, adjusting prices before the sun comes up.
The Central Bank keeps urging everyone to use the official Investors and Exporters (I&E) window through banks. But let’s be honest—when demand keeps smashing into a wall of tight supply, people look for options. The black market isn’t just about profit; it’s sometimes the only way people or businesses can legally settle critical bills, imports, or overseas expenses on time.
All through March 26, the parallel market in Nigeria buzzed with unpredictable activity. Rates changed practically from one street to the next, especially in key urban centers like Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt. Cash-rich traders made quick decisions, hoping to win on the spread while buyers chased better deals, often traveling from one spot to another for a few extra naira per dollar or pound. That’s daily life in Nigeria’s unofficial currency scene—fast, risky, and always expensive for ordinary people and small businesses.
Comments
Damini Nichinnamettlu
This is what happens when you let foreign currency control your economy. Nigeria needs to stop begging for dollars and start producing. The black market is a symptom, not the disease. Stop the hand-wringing and build real industry.
And yes, I know the CBN says one thing-but reality doesn’t care about their spreadsheets.
Vinod Pillai
Naira is garbage. Full stop. You can't have a currency that's worth less than the paper it's printed on. People are desperate, so they turn to black markets. But the real problem? Weak leadership. No vision. No discipline. Just printing money like it's confetti.
Avantika Dandapani
I just want to say-this isn’t just about numbers on a screen. This is about mothers skipping meals so their kids can pay school fees. This is about small business owners who lose hours driving across Lagos just to get a better rate. The system isn’t broken-it’s been designed this way for someone else’s profit. We need to see the people behind the exchange rates.
Ayushi Dongre
There is an ontological dissonance between the state’s monetary policy and the lived economic reality of the populace. The CBN’s official rates constitute a performative fiction, a symbolic gesture meant to preserve institutional legitimacy rather than facilitate material exchange. The black market, in contrast, operates as a spontaneous order-a decentralized, emergent mechanism for value transmission under conditions of systemic failure. One might argue it is the only honest institution left.
rakesh meena
Build factories not websites. Export cocoa not complaints. The dollar will follow the product not the policy
sandeep singh
You think this is bad? Wait till the IMF comes knocking with their ‘structural adjustments’. They’ll tell you to cut subsidies, privatize water, and then laugh while you pay N2000 for a dollar. This isn’t Nigeria’s fault-it’s the global elite playing chess with our lives. And you’re still asking why people turn to the street?
Sumit Garg
Did you know the CBN’s official rate is deliberately manipulated to mask capital flight? The real dollar is trading at N1,720 in Dubai corridors and being funneled back through shell companies owned by connected officials. The numbers you see on the street? They’re just the tip. The offshore accounts? Those are the iceberg. And no, I didn’t make this up-I read a leaked IMF internal memo from 2023.
Sneha N
I’m crying. 💔 Every time I see this I think of my cousin who sold her wedding gold just to pay for her daughter’s visa. This isn’t economics. This is trauma dressed up as exchange rates. Someone needs to hold these people accountable. Not just the speculators-the ones who let this happen.
Manjunath Nayak BP
Look, people don’t get it. This isn’t just about inflation or forex reserves. This is about the complete collapse of trust in institutions. The CBN hasn’t been credible since 2015. The banks? They’re just ATMs for the politically connected. The black market isn’t illegal-it’s the only functional system left. And the worst part? It’s been this way for a decade and nobody in power wants to fix it because they’re profiting off the chaos. I’ve seen the emails. I’ve seen the wire transfers. The money isn’t disappearing-it’s being siphoned into Swiss accounts while people here barter with rice for petrol. And you think this is normal? It’s not. It’s a slow-motion coup.
Tulika Singh
We can argue about rates and policies. But the real question is: what kind of society do we want to be? One that exploits the desperate? Or one that protects them?