Lagos, Nigeria — August 25, 2025
Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee has maintained the benchmark interest rate at 27.5 percent, sustaining high short-term borrowing costs and boosting yields on corporate commercial paper (CP).
Recent CP issuances in 2025 priced in the low-to-mid-20s percent range, significantly higher than the 91-day Treasury bill yield of about 15 percent, making CP an attractive option for investors seeking higher returns. The instruments, typically issued for up to 270 days on FMDQ platforms, are subject to a 10 percent withholding tax on interest or discount income.
Minimum subscription levels are not uniform. While several ongoing offers have set a floor of ₦5 million with increments of ₦1,000, some platforms, such as NASD, allow entry from as low as ₦1 million per investor.
Analysts caution that although CPs currently provide higher yields than sovereign bills and deposits, they carry issuer credit and liquidity risks that investors must weigh carefully against government-backed alternatives.