Where Should Nigerians Invest in 2025? T-Bills, Stocks, Real Estate and Dollar Assets Compared

For the first time in years, Nigerian investors face a genuinely interesting problem: almost every major asset class is offering headline returns of 20% and above. Treasury bills have paid over 20%, the Nigerian stock exchange returned roughly 37% in 2024, prime Lagos property kept appreciating, and dollar assets did their usual quiet work against a naira that lost significant ground. The question is no longer "where can I earn?" — it is "which return is real after inflation, and which risk am I actually carrying?"

What Are the Real Returns After Inflation?

With inflation running above 30%, a 21% treasury bill yield is a negative real return — you are losing purchasing power slowly and safely. That does not make T-bills useless; it makes them a parking lot, not an engine. Here is how the four big options compare on what matters:

• Treasury bills & FGN bonds — 19–22% yields, sovereign-backed, highly liquid. Best for capital preservation and emergency funds; weakest for long-term wealth because they rarely beat Nigerian inflation.
• NGX equities — the All-Share Index has delivered strong multi-year runs, and dividend yields of 6–10% on banks add income. Volatile, requires selectivity or an index fund, but historically one of the few naira assets that outruns inflation over full cycles.
• Real estate — prime Lagos land has compounded in double digits for a decade, with rental yields of 4–6% (residential) to 8–10% (short-let, commercial). Illiquid and entry-heavy, but the strongest inflation hedge available in naira.
• Dollar assets — domiciliary deposits, Eurobonds, and US index funds via licensed platforms. Modest dollar returns (4–10%) but the FX effect has repeatedly rescued Nigerian portfolios. The hedge you hold so the naira positions can take risk.

How Should You Split Your Portfolio?

There is no universal allocation, but the framework we use with clients at CBC starts with three buckets in order:

1. Safety first. Three to six months of expenses in liquid, low-risk instruments — money market funds and T-bills. This is insurance, not investment; judge it by access, not yield.

2. The core. The wealth-building middle: 40–60% of investable assets across equities and income-producing real estate, weighted by your age and how soon you need the money. Younger investors can lean equity-heavy; investors closer to drawing down lean toward property income and bonds.

3. The hedge. 20–30% in dollar-denominated assets. Not because you expect the naira to collapse, but because your income, expenses, and most of your assets are already a concentrated bet on Nigeria.

"The riskiest portfolio in Nigeria is not the one holding stocks — it is the one holding everything in a single asset class and a single currency."

Which Option Is Right for You?

Match the asset to the job. Money you need within a year belongs in T-bills and money market funds regardless of what equities are doing. Money for goals five or more years out belongs predominantly in equities and property, because that is the horizon where their volatility stops being a bug. And every portfolio, at every size, benefits from a dollar sleeve — start small and automate it.

The most common mistake we see is not picking the "wrong" asset; it is chasing last year's winner with all available cash, then selling in panic at the first drawdown. An allocation you can hold through a bad year beats a brilliant allocation you abandon in March.