Nigerian Exchange Postpones Revised Pricing Rules Hours Before August 17 Take-off

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) has postponed the planned rollout of its revised pricing methodology for equities trading, just a day before the new framework was scheduled to take effect on Monday, August 17, 2026.

Under the revised methodology, the minimum quantity required to trigger a published price movement will depend on the security’s prevailing price.

Stocks priced at N1,000 and above will require a minimum trade of 10,000 units, while securities priced between N500 and N999.99 will require at least 50,000 units.

For stocks priced below N500, a minimum of 100,000 units will be required before a transaction can trigger a change in the published share price.

This was confirmed to Nairametrics on Sunday by the Group head, Communications and Partnerships at Nigerian Exchange Group, Mr. Clifford Akpolo.

“We have postponed the planned launch on Monday, August 17. It is postponed; not shelved. The Exchange will communicate a new date in due course,” Akpolo said.

He added that implementation may not fall within August and that the delay was due to stakeholder engagement rather than any specific clash of schedules.

The Exchange had circulated the SEC-approved Revised Pricing Methodology Framework to Trading License Holders in June. Under the postponed rules, NGX planned to introduce tiered minimum-traded-quantity thresholds to determine price movements, replacing the current flat bands.

NGX said the change was designed to “strengthen price discovery by ensuring that transactions of material economic value are appropriately reflected in published market prices, while maintaining safeguards against price distortion.”

Market operators had broadly supported the shift, noting it would sharply cut the capital required to move prices of premium stocks like Seplat Energy, Airtel Africa, Dangote Cement, Geregu Power and Nestlé Nigeria.

With the postponement, the existing pricing bands, N100 and above, N5.00 to below N100, and below N5.00, remain in force. Investors who had positioned for volatility in high-priced counters will have to wait for NGX to announce a new effective date.