Nigeria's Government Celebrates Fitch Ratings' Positive Outlook

The Nigerian federal government has welcomed Fitch Ratings' decision to revise Nigeria’s outlook to Positive, which validates the reforms of the President Bola Tinubu administration. Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele stated that the medium-term goal is to place Nigeria on the path to investment grade.

The reforms include the removal of the fuel subsidy, unification of the exchange rate, and new tax laws. On October 9, Fitch revised Nigeria’s Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings outlook to Positive from Stable, affirming the ratings at ‘B’.

A Positive Outlook indicates a potential rating increase if trends continue. Oyedele noted that all three major international rating agencies have taken positive actions on Nigeria this year, with S&P Global Ratings upgrading Nigeria to ‘B’ from ‘B-‘ in May and Moody’s revising its outlook to Positive in August.

He also mentioned that FTSE Russell returned Nigeria to Frontier Market status on September 21, 2026. Oyedele acknowledged areas for improvement, including inflation and government revenue.