Moniepoint Inc. and the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) have urged faster, transparent and human-centred financing models to unlock growth and secure the future of Nigerian SMEs. They made the call on Thursday in Lagos at the NBCC and Moniepoint SME event with the theme ‘Money in Motion: Unlocking Capital, Driving SME Prosperity’.
Ezekiel Sanni, Senior Vice President, Distribution Network Sales, Moniepoint Inc., stated that access alone was not enough in 2025. He noted that while the financial sector had ensured capital availability, SMEs still lacked speed, context, trust, and sufficient transparency in financing processes.
This, Sanni explained, meant SMEs continued to face delays, harsh terms, and opaque conditions when seeking financial support. He stressed that Moniepoint’s experience with SMEs showed that capital must be simple, fast, supportive, and human-centred to drive real business growth.
He urged NBCC to strengthen its role as a bridge between policy and enterprise, local businesses and international markets, and between capital and capacity. According to him, NBCC’s key tasks include advancing SME-friendly trade finance, promoting digital literacy and inclusion, advocating fair digital lending regulations, and fostering UK–Nigeria SME partnerships.
“To drive SME prosperity, we must engineer systems that move capital at the speed of trust and make SMEs visible, creditworthy and scalable. We must reframe success from how much was disbursed to how many lives changed. Across Nigeria, SMEs are ready to scale and grow. We must ensure that capital reaches them quickly and effectively,” Sanni said.
Tolulope Alegbe, Vice President, Credit Portfolio Management, Moniepoint, said access to finance was critical, but loans could only help when businesses were “loan ready.” He listed benefits of loan readiness as faster funding, improved loan terms, stronger credibility with banks and investors, and better positioning for scale and opportunities.
Alegbe said Moniepoint applied a four-pronged approach to strategic lending for small businesses. These included digital payment records functioning as financial history, tailored working capital loans, data-driven credit assessments, and advisory support to improve financial practices.
He noted that although SMEs needed loans for operations, many avoided formal institutions when seeking funds. Alegbe cited Moniepoint’s informal SME report, which showed over 70 per cent borrowed from family and friends, compared to 15.1 per cent from loan apps, and 12.2 per cent from banks.
He argued that solutions lay in alternative collateral, digital payments, traceable records, data-driven credit scoring, and risk-sharing guarantee schemes.
“To build creditworthiness, businesses must keep proper records using digital payments and bookkeeping to create reliable financial histories. They must also separate and formalise finances, start with small loans, repay consistently, and grow access to larger facilities. At Moniepoint, we believe credit should not be a privilege but a pathway to growth. When businesses are ready, responsive lenders will help SMEs thrive,” Alegbe said.
President of NBCC, Abimbola Olashore, said empowering entrepreneurs created jobs, fostered innovation, and laid a stronger foundation for sustainable economic growth. Olashore affirmed NBCC’s commitment to promoting trade and investment between Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
He said the SME event showed that NBCC’s mission extended beyond trade to knowledge, innovation, and capacity building, which were vital to SME success globally.
“Let us seize this moment as a call to support SMEs, strengthen trade ties, and create opportunities shaping the future of enterprise in Nigeria,” he said.
