Nigeria Returns to Global Bond Benchmark After 11-Year Absence

Nigeria has been included in JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s newly created Government Bond Index, Emerging Markets Edge, marking its return to a major local-currency bond benchmark after an 11-year absence.

The index, known as GBI-EM Edge, will track approximately $328 billion in local-currency government debt across 26 frontier and fast-growing economies. Nigeria has been assigned a significant 7.4 per cent weighting in the index, placing it among the countries expected to have the largest representation.

The new benchmark is designed specifically for frontier local-currency debt markets and will complement JPMorgan's Next Generation Markets Index, which tracks hard-currency bonds issued by frontier economies. The Edge will focus on government securities denominated in the domestic currencies of participating countries.