JP Morgan has included Nigeria in its newly launched Government Bond Index–Emerging Markets Edge, assigning the country a 7.4 percent weighting. The announcement was made on September 14, 2026, marking Nigeria’s first return to a JP Morgan benchmark since it was removed in 2015.
The GBI-EM Edge tracks local-currency government bonds across 26 frontier and emerging markets, with about $330 billion in debt covered. Nigeria’s $17.47 billion in eligible Federal Government bonds across 16 instruments makes it one of the largest constituents, close to JP Morgan’s maximum country cap of 8 percent. Other top-weighted countries include Egypt, Vietnam, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The Federal Ministry of Finance said Nigeria qualified on liquidity and issuance size. FGN bonds are actively traded under a Two-Way Quote System and outstanding volumes per tenor are well above the $250 million minimum required. The ministry linked the return to reforms that stabilized the naira, cleared the FX backlog, and improved investor confidence.
JP Morgan noted the included Nigerian bonds have an average yield to maturity of 17.1 percent, an average duration of 3.38 years and a B- sovereign credit rating. The overall index is expected to have an average nominal yield of about 10.4 percent, roughly 440 basis points higher than JP Morgan’s main emerging-market local-currency index.
Officials said the inclusion should boost foreign demand for Nigerian government securities and help lower borrowing costs. Funds that track JP Morgan benchmarks will now need to adjust portfolios to reflect Nigeria’s 7.4 percent weight.
JP Morgan clarified this is not a return to its flagship GBI-EM Global Diversified index, as the GBI-EM Edge is a separate benchmark focused on frontier markets.
