By Onu Okorie

Nigerian naira came under renewed pressure on Tuesday as the United States dollar continued to trade above ₦1,400 in parts of the parallel foreign exchange market, widening the gap between unofficial rates and the official Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM).
The latest market reports put the official NFEM rate at about ₦1,326 to the US dollar, while parallel-market quotations ranged between ₦1,385 and ₦1,410 per dollar, depending on the dealer and location.
At a parallel-market selling rate of ₦1,410, a customer seeking to purchase $1,000 would need about ₦1.41 million, compared with approximately ₦1.326 million at the latest official NFEM rate.
The divergence has kept attention focused on foreign-exchange liquidity, dollar demand and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s efforts to improve transparency and stability in the market. The CBN’s electronic foreign-exchange matching system, EFEMS, was introduced to improve real-time price discovery, order matching and oversight of FX transactions.
Market observers say demand from importers, businesses and individuals requiring dollars for international payments remains an important factor influencing exchange-rate movements. Dollar availability, crude-oil earnings, foreign investment flows, remittances and monetary policy are also expected to influence the naira’s direction.
The difference between the official and parallel-market rates remains significant. At ₦1,410 per dollar, the parallel-market selling rate is roughly ₦84 above the latest official NFEM rate.
For ordinary Nigerians, movements in the exchange rate can have direct implications for the cost of imported goods, international travel, school fees, medical expenses and other dollar-denominated transactions.
Analysts are expected to continue watching foreign-exchange liquidity and official-market activity for signs of whether the naira can narrow the gap with parallel-market quotations in the coming days.
The exchange rates quoted in the parallel market are not fixed and can change during the day, with differences depending on location, transaction size and individual dealers.