Nigeria returns to J.P. Morgan bond benchmark after 11-year absence

J.P. Morgan has added Nigeria to its newly launched Government Bond Index–Emerging Markets Edge (GBI-EM Edge), giving the country a 7.4% weighting. The decision was revealed in the bank's Global Index Research report dated September 14, 2026, according to Nairametrics. This move returns Nigerian naira-denominated government bonds to a J.P.

Morgan benchmark after the country was removed from the index in 2015. However, Nigeria is not being readmitted to the GBI-EM Global Diversified (GBI-EM GD) index, as the GBI-EM Edge is a separate benchmark focusing on frontier markets outside the flagship index. Nigeria has been given a 7.40% weight in the GBI-EM Edge, close to J.P.

Morgan's maximum country weighting of 8%. The country's government bonds, worth $17.47 billion and represented in 16 instruments, are included in the benchmark. The new index tracks around $328 billion in local-currency government debt from 425 instruments across 26 markets and 24 currencies. Nigeria was first included in J.P. Morgan's Government Bond Index in October 2012 following the development of a robust domestic FGN bond market, transparency, liquidity, and functionality in the foreign exchange market, and a broad investor base.

The GBI-EM Edge aims to capture emerging and frontier economies with undeveloped domestic government bond markets. Nigeria's inclusion in the benchmark could boost the visibility of FGN bonds for international fixed-income investors, as these securities offer yields significantly higher than the benchmark average. Moreover, currency movements play a crucial role for foreign investors, as returns from naira-denominated government bonds depend on both domestic yields and exchange rates when proceeds are converted back into dollars.

Nigeria's inclusion, nearly a decade after its removal from J.P. Morgan's flagship emerging-market government bond index in 2015, makes the country one of the largest exposures in the bank's new frontier local-currency debt benchmark, potentially bringing naira-denominated FGN bonds back to the attention of global investors tracking or measuring their portfolios against J.P. Morgan indices.