OctaFX Nigeria Review 2023

OctaFX is our #4 ranked forex and CFD broker in Nigeria. The attractive spread on major currency pairs and availability of multiple trading platforms can be resourceful for the Nigerian traders. Check out our honest and detailed review of OctaFX Nigeria before opening your account.

Regulated By: CySEC

Headquarters: Suite 305, Griffith Corporate Centre, Beachmont, Kingstown, Saint Vincent And Grenadines

Foundation Year: 2011

Min Deposit: $100

Open Account Note: Forex & CFD Trading is Risky.

OctaFX is an international forex broker that was incorporated in 2011 in St. Vincent and Grenadines. It is a straight through processing (STP) broker that is regulated by CySEC and offers tight spreads on currency pairs and CFDs.

OctaFX allows traders in Nigeria to trade currency pairs with fixed as well as variable spreads. They also accept local bank transfers from Nigeria but do not have a local office in Nigeria. The number of trading instruments is low which can be a drawback of choosing OctaFX.

Read our comprehensive review on OctaFX for traders in Nigeria. Check out every pros and cons that can possibly affect your trading experience at OctaFX in Nigeria.

OctaFX Nigeria – A quick look

Is OctaFX Safe?

OctaFX was launched in 2011 and is fairly popular among forex and CFD traders worldwide. It is not regulated by any top-tier regulatory authorities but the CySEC regulation makes it safe for traders in Nigeria.

OctaFX is regulated by the Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission (CySEC) with the name of Octa Markets Cyprus Ltd as an investment firm under license number 372/18. The CySEC regulation allows financial services providers to operate in the European Union.

CySEC is considered a tier 2 regulatory authority that overlooks the activities of the broker and safeguards traders’ interests. In comparison with peers, the safety feature lacks with OctaFX as there are several other forex and CFD brokers in Nigeria that are regulated by multiple top-tier regulatory authorities. Hence, the third-party risk of choosing OctaFX in Nigeria is comparatively higher than that of brokers that are regulated by FCA, FSCA, or ASIC.

OctaFX is also regulated by IFSC of Belize with legal entity Octa Markets Limited and license number 19776 IBC 2011. The clients residing in Nigeria are registered under the IFSC regulation. This makes it riskier than other brokers that are regulated by top-tier regulatory authorities.

OctaFX does not have a parent banking company, does not disclose financial statements, and is not listed on any stock exchange. We also couldn’t find details of the owners of OctaFX.

Although, traders in Nigeria can consider it safe due to CySEC regulation.

OctaFX Fees

OctaFX offers fixed as well as variable spreads on currency pairs. We found the fees at OctaFX to be comparatively lower than most of the regulated forex and CFD brokers in Nigeria. To provide a complete perspective of all the fees involved in forex trades, we have broken it down into trading and non-trading fees.

Trading Fees
Trading fees include all the costs incurred by the trader while executing the trade orders. OctaFX offers 3 types of accounts and the trading fees differ for each type of account.

1. MT4 Micro Account: It is the commission-free account type that is mostly chosen by the traders at OctaFX. The spreads are floating or variable spreads start from 0.6 pips per lot with no commission involved.

   

   We checked the spreads with the Micro account taking EUR/USD as a benchmark. The average typical spread for EUR/USD with the variable spread micro account type ranged between 0.7 to 1 pip per lot during peak trading hours.

2. MT5 Pro Account: It is also a commission-free account type that only offers floating spreads on all the available instruments. We found the variable spreads with the pro account to be similar to MT4 in most cases but very slightly higher than the Micro account type in some cases.

   

   The average typical spread for EUR/USD with the pro account type ranged between 0.7 to 0.9 during peak trading hours. Traders do not have to pay any swap fee with the MT5 pro account type but a three-day fee is charged for holding a position overnight.

We checked the spreads for EUR/USD with the MT4 and MT5 accounts and found them to be nearly similar as they ranged between 0.7 to 0.9 pips per lot during peak trading hours. The swap fees are not charged with the ECN account but traders might have to pay weekly rollover fees. The table below compares the average typical spread in pips per lot at OctaFX with the MT4 and MT5 account types for major trading instruments.

We have also compared the average spread for some of the most commonly traded currency pairs in Nigeria with different brokers. The following table compares the average typical spread incurred by various brokers in Nigeria with their Standard accounts. It must be noted that the spreads mentioned in the table are with the commission-free account.

Swap Fees: The swap fees are also called overnight charges as these are the charges that are incurred only when a position is kept open overnight. The swap fees are added over opened position for every night.

The swap fees at OctaFX for EUR/USD is -0.06 and -0.10 pips per lot for short and long position respectively. It is much lower when compared with the majority of the forex and CFD brokers in Nigeria.

Non Trading Fees

It is the fees that the traders have to pay without executing any trade orders. However, at OctaFX we didn’t find any non-trading fees incurred to traders. OctaFX does not charge any deposit/withdrawal fees, account opening fees, currency conversion fees, or any other hidden charges.

No inactivity fee is charged from the traders, unlike many other regulated brokers in Nigeria. Although, if no trades are executed for 30 days and the account balance is 0, then the account is automatically closed. If any amount exists in any of the account types, it will never be closed.

Overall, we found OctaFX lucrative in terms of fees as their variable spreads are lower than most of the regulated brokers in Nigeria. The fixed spread is high but the low variable spread makes it fairly attractive to forex traders. Trading fees are low and non-trading fees are absent which makes it one of the least costly brokers in Nigeria.

OctaFX Trading Platform

OctaFX offers the most popular MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 trading platforms for web, desktop, android, and iOS devices. Each trading platform at OctaFX is bound with a specific account type and cannot be changed.

A majority of the forex and CFD brokers in Nigeria offer MT4 and MT5 trading platforms. What makes OctaFX attractive in terms of trading platforms is the availability of the cTrader platform. It provides advanced charting and analysis tools and various additional features over MT4 and MT5 trading platforms.

OctaFX Customer Support

The customer support staff at OctaFX is user-friendly and very helpful. We tried to connect with them through a live chat window at their official website and the customer support email id.

We found the live chat to be very helpful as all our queries were resolved within 10-15 seconds. We asked different questions at three different times of the day and received a relevant and helpful reply within no time.

Email support is also helpful for traders but it generally takes 1-4 hours to receive a reply through email. Traders can raise their query at OctaFX through their customer support email address [email protected].

OctaFX does not have a local Nigerian phone number for customer support which is a major drawback for Nigerian traders.

OctaFX Account Types

OctaFX allows traders to choose between two different account types and each account type supports a different trading platform. All the features offered by OctaFX are similar in both account types including spread, and leverage.

The only major difference lies in the trading platform, available instruments, and the maximum volumes that can be traded. With the MT5 account, a maximum of 500 lots can be traded while with the MT4 account type, a maximum of 200 lots can be traded.

Both the account types require a minimum deposit of 50$ and cannot be opened with NGN as the base currency. However, the recommended deposit on its website is 100$. The MT5 account allows trading with 6 additional CFDs on indices apart from 4 available with the MT4 account type. All the other Instruments are available with both account types.

Both the available account types allow trading on standard lots and the minimum volume that can be traded is 0.01 lots. Traders only have USD and EUR as options for base currency at OctaFX. Each account type can also be converted into an Islamic or swap-free account.

OctaFX also offers a free-of-cost demo account for potential traders to gain experience, learn the basics, and test strategies with virtual currency before making actual trades.

All the account types available at OctaFX are ideal for different types of traders. However, we didn’t find enough major differences in the account types offered at OctaFX. The minimum deposit is high and micro-lots are not available on any account type. This might be a concern for new traders. The unavailability of a Naira (NGN) trading account is a drawback for Nigerian traders.

OctaFX Research and Education

OctaFX has rich offerings in the research and education section for Nigerian traders. There are multiple tools that can assist in making better trading decisions and supplement the knowledge of traders in the forex and CFD market.

OctaFX Research Tools

Following are the tools that can assist traders in the research and analysis of the forex and CFD market.

1. Autochartist
   The autochartist tool provides automated alerts and signals based on predefined patterns. These signals can help traders in identifying trading opportunities and market volatility. The OctaFX auto chartist plugin can be downloaded for the MT4/MT5 trading platform.



2. Market Insights
   OctaFX offers various tools that can be used to get insights into the market and the factors that can have an impact on the forex and CFD market. The economic calendar is displayed with a timer that marks important economic events globally. The trading session indicator displays the currently active forex trading sessions and the currency pairs. Trading ideas are also published at regular intervals by the experts at OctaFX.
3. News
   More than 100 news articles are published every day at OctaFX. Apart from the global economic activities, these news articles also include predictions and analysis reports by OctaFX and third-party financial research providers. Possible impacts of the news and affairs are also published regularly.
4. Technical Analysis
   The technical analysis charts of major currency pairs along with detailed explanations are published separately under the “Analysis and Education” section.
   

OctaFX Education Tools

OctaFX organizes webinars on general forex and CFD trading topics on regular intervals. These webinars are hosted by expert speakers proficient in the forex market and can be attended by any registered client at OctaFX. The schedule and others for these webinars are available on the website and app.

There are several educational articles available on the OctaFX website covering basic topics of the forex market. It also has a separate page for articles with a guide for trading platforms. These articles are helpful for beginners in the forex market.

OctaFX also offers a separate video course for trading and a platform guide. These video courses have comprehensive details and step-by-step guidance for efficient forex and CFD trading. A beginner can gain adequate knowledge required for forex and CFD trading by going through all the available videos at OctaFX.

We found OctaFX to be fairly efficient in assisting the traders with research and education tools. Compared to many of the regulated forex and CFD brokers in Nigeria, OctaFX is among the best in terms of research and education.

OctaFX Trading Instruments

OctaFX offers a lower number of trading instruments than most of the regulated forex and CFD brokers in Nigeria. The total number of available currency pairs at OctaFX is 35 while a total of 22 CFDs are available. The fixed spread feature is only available on 14 currency pairs which further limits the number of available instruments at OctaFX.

Apart from 35 currency pairs, traders can trade through CFDs on 4 metals, 3 energies, 10 indices, and 5 cryptocurrencies.

Compared to a majority of regulated brokers in Nigeria, OctaFX offers trading on lesser trading instruments.

Withdrawals and Deposits

The number of methods for deposits and withdrawals at OctaFX is limited but convenient for Nigerian traders. The availability of local Nigerian GT bank transfers is a major advantage for Nigerian traders.

OctaFX Deposit Methods in Nigeria

1. Local GT Bank Transfer: Most traders in Nigeria use the local bank transfers at OctaFX for deposits. No additional commission is incurred and the deposit bonus is also available for this method. Deposits can be made in NGN currency which is also reflected in the account as NGN. The minimum deposit amount is N18,000.

2. Credit/Debit Cards: Deposits can also be made via VISA and MasterCard at OctaFX. The minimum deposit amount is 50$ for credit and debit cards. Payments are processed almost instantly.

3. E-Wallets: Skrill and Neteller are also available for traders in Nigeria to deposit at OctaFX. The minimum amount for this method is 50$ and the payments are processed instantly.

4. Cryptocurrency: The trading account at OctaFX can also be funded with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Tether. The deposited cryptocurrencies are automatically converted to the base account currency according to the prevailing rates at OctaFX. No additional commission is charged and payments are processed within an hour. The details of the minimum amount required for each cryptocurrency can be checked from their website.

OctaFX Withdrawal Method

The withdrawal methods are the same as deposit methods but the time taken to process the withdrawal can be slightly more than the deposit. The lower cap on withdrawal amount (5$) is much lesser compared to the deposit amount.

Withdrawals through local banks in Nigeria are processed in 1-3 hours with no added commission. OctaFX covers all the third-party commissions incurred for transacting through any of the methods.

OctaFX offers convenient deposits and withdrawals for traders in Nigeria. It is among the 4 forex brokers in Nigeria that accept local bank transfers. There is no hidden commission and the processing for most of the methods is fast.

OctaFX Bonus

The bonus offerings at OctaFX have always been a key factor in the marketing and promotion of the broker. OctaFX offers a variety of bonuses to its clients through various contests, lucky draws, and promotions.

OctaFX has an ongoing 16 cars contest, 8 gold contests, and various giveaways in which the winner is decided through lucky draws. They also offer a 50% deposit bonus to new clients in Nigeria, which is fully withdrawable.

OctaFX also organizes an international demo contest each month in which it allows clients from all over the world to compete through virtual currency in forex trades. The winners are rewarded at the end of each month. It also has a referral program in which clients are rewarded for each successful referral.

OctaFX claims to have paid more than 28 million USD through various bonus programs. Compared to all the regulated brokers in Nigeria, we found OctaFX to be very attractive in terms of rewards and bonuses.

Do we Recommend OctaFX?

Yes, we do recommend OctaFX to Nigerian traders due to low spreads, lesser fees, availability of multiple trading platforms, and local GT bank deposits.

The lesser number of trading instruments can be a drawback as it limits the options to trade. OctaFX is not regulated by top-tier regulators but due to CySEC regulatory license, it can be considered safe for traders in Nigeria.

Frequently asked questions: OctaFX Nigeria