The Nigerian Exchange Limited has announced that it will significantly extend its daily trading hours from April 27, 2026, moving the opening bell from 9:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and shifting the market close from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., in a structural reform designed to deepen market liquidity, improve price discovery, and broaden investor participation.
The expansion, approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission, was announced in a statement by NGX Head of Group Communications and Partnerships, Clifford Akpolo, who described it as a significant evolution in the exchange’s market structure that would give investors greater flexibility and improve the market’s responsiveness to new information.
The reform follows Nigeria’s reclassification to Frontier Market status by FTSE Russell, and the two developments together are being presented as complementary signals of the exchange’s growing global positioning and its ambition to attract a broader pool of both domestic and international investors.
NGX said the extended hours were the product of extensive stakeholder engagement to ensure operational readiness ahead of the go-live date, and confirmed that NGX Regulation Limited would maintain robust oversight throughout the transition to ensure an orderly shift while preserving standards of transparency and investor protection.
The move aligns with a broader global trend of exchanges extending trading windows, with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange also reported to be considering the introduction of 24-hour trading in response to the growing appetite of retail investors who trade through mobile applications at all hours.
