26 Africa Currencies That Are Stronger Than Naira in 2024

Last updated on March 28th, 2024 at 11:46 am

When this article was first published in May 2022, the Nigerian currency was stronger than some of the currencies on this list, less than two years later, they have gained some points over the Naira, following the floating of the Naira by the government.

For instance, the Somalian Shilling, which used to be SOS/NGN 78 kobo in 2022 is now N2.49, meaning SOS will buy more Nigerian currency at the forex market at the time of updating this article (February 20, 2024)

Here are currencies in Africa that are stronger in value than the Naira:

• 1 Tunisian dinar (TND) = N454.38
• 1 Libyan dinar (LYD) = N293.06
• 1 Ghanian cedi (GHS) = N107.44
• 1 Moroccan dirham (MAD) = N140.13
• 1 Botswana pula (BWP) = N103.48
• 1 Seychellois rupee (SCR) = N104.88
• 1 Namibian dollar (NAD) = N74.92
• 1 Eritrea nakfas (ERN) = N93
• 1 South African rand (ZAR) = N74.54
• 1 Egyptian pound (EGP) = N29.93
• 1 Sao Tomean dobras (STN) = N60.1
• 1 Swazi lilangeni (SZL) = N74.94
• 1 Zambian kwacha (ZMW) = N56.23
• 1 Mozambican metical (MZN) = N22.20
• 1 Lesotho loti (LSL) = N74.92
• 1 The Gambian dalasi (GMD) = N20.88
• 1 Liberian dollar (LRD) = N7.36
• 1 Cape Verdean escudo (CVE) = N13.92
• 1 Djiboutian franc (DJF) = N7.97
• 1 Kenyan shilling (KES) = N10.79
• 1 Ethiopian Birr: (ETB) = N35.42
• 1 Mauritian ouguiya (MRU) = N35.42
• 1 Mauritian rupee (MUR) = N30.57
• 1 Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD) =N4.4
• 1 Algerian dinar (DZD) = N10.53
• 1 Somalian Shillings (SOS) = N2.49

Nigeria prides itself as the economic giant of Africa, yet the value of the Naira isn’t showing positive indications as close to 50% of currencies on the continent are stronger than the Nigerian currency.

It had been like this for some years, but the decision of the new government led by President Bola Tinubu to float the naira seems to have worsened the value of the naira against other currencies.

In the 70s:

In 1972 1 USD was just 0.658 naira at the official market rate. For 13 years, USD/NGN at the forex market remained under NGN1.

That was the time the Nigerian currency was the pride of every Nigerian as this can be seen in our timeline of the official CBN exchange rate at the forex market

For the first time since Nigeria adopted its currency, the Naira hit NGN1 and crossed NGN2 in 1986 during the regime of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.

Today, Nigeria and its economy are facing multi-faceted problems, though they are still being rated as the strongest economy in Africa, the country borrows money to pay its workers.

At the time of this publication, USD/NGN is NGN781.34 at the Investors’ and Exporters’ window rate. The naira is not only weak against the US Dollar, it can’t also be found on the list of global currencies for international transactions.

On the continent, the naira isn’t the weakest as there are more than 20 other African currencies that weaker than the Nigerian currency. On the continent, the naira carries some irrelevant weight against some legal tenders.

Note: Some of the currencies listed above are also battling to repress high inflation. For instance, Ghana is facing what can be described as hyperinflation and has devalued its currency several times,.