Tag: Nigerian SMEs

  • Mastercard, Alerzo partner to digitize Nigerian SMEs

    Mastercard, Alerzo partner to digitize Nigerian SMEs

    A global leader in financial services, Mastercard has partnered with Nigeria’s premier technological service provider Alerzo to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry.

    The collaboration’s primary objective is to improve company sustainability and market performance via the provision of digital payment solutions, financial training, and credit.

    The combination of Alerzo’s B2B e-commerce know-how with Mastercard’s worldwide infrastructure and network will make digital payments more widely available to companies of all sizes. 

    The partnership will provide a number of innovative offerings, such as the digital payment system VeedezPay, the complete company management tool VeedezPro, and the ERP solutions required by larger corporations. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that utilize VeedezPay and VeedezPro will also have access to micro-lending solutions.

    The SMEs in Nigeria have struggled due to a lack of digitalization, which has hampered their access to new sales prospects, the capacity to manage sales and inventories, and the ability to gain access to credit. The Alerzo-Mastercard alliance intends to tackle these issues head-on by providing financial education and training to one million SMEs in Nigeria over the course of the next 5 years. This initiative will hasten the widespread usage of financial services and facilitate the transition to digital payment methods.

    Read also: Nigeria’s Retail-startup, Alerzo lays off 400 people

    Promoting contactless payments for SMEs

    Adewale Opaleye, CEO of Alerzo Limited, commented on the partnership and its benefits, saying, “We’re excited to partner with Mastercard to support the growth and success of SMEs in Nigeria.” In conjunction, we have the expertise, resources, and experience to keep helping companies in Nigeria with training, credit, and new ways to accept payments. These innovations may be pivotal, particularly for our overlooked informal merchants.

    “Nigerian small enterprises have shown remarkable fortitude in recent years, but they continue to confront significant challenges to maintaining a profit margin. According to Mastercard’s Country Manager and Area Business Head, West Africa, Ebehijie Momoh, “We are excited to combine our expertise and resources to drive digital transformation and financial inclusion, providing training and solutions that enable Nigerian businesses to thrive through our partnership with Alerzo.” To elaborate, Momoh said, “This collaboration will play a crucial role in digitizing payments and supporting the growth and success of Nigerian businesses.”

    The partnership’s low-cost acceptance options, such as Tap on Phone, QR, Pay-By-Link, and Payment Gateway Service, will be beneficial for a variety of SMEs and informal merchants. VeedezPay and VeedezPro, both available on the App Store and Google Play, enable businesses to quickly begin receiving digital and contactless payments. Interested established firms may learn more about the ERP system and its integrated business management tools by contacting the appropriate company representative.

    The Alerzo-Mastercard partnership seeks to facilitate company expansion by increasing access to credit. The Alerzoshop B2B commerce software will first provide micro-lending solutions to informal shops, giving them access to capital to grow and seize chances. The effects of this collaboration go well beyond the scope of an individual company. Millions of individuals who depend on their small enterprises to provide for their families would benefit from efforts to strengthen SMEs and informal retailers.

    What to know about Alerzo

    Alerzo is an all-in-one technology platform designed to equip micro-businesses with the digital products and services necessary to run profitable and sustainable businesses.

    Alerzo is one of Nigeria’s top IT support companies, serving over 250,000 companies with innovative solutions. Its POS terminals exist in every local government in Nigeria and are used by hundreds of people every month, making its services available to any company that needs them.

    Over the years, the company have built a network of over 100,000 credible small businesses, 90% of which are run by women. Also, it makes running a business easier for MSMEs with our end-to-end digital solutions.

  • Bloc partners with SMEDAN to provide fintech to Nigerian SMEs

    Bloc partners with SMEDAN to provide fintech to Nigerian SMEs

    The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) inked an MoU with Bloc, a banking service and fintech infrastructure firm, to offer fintech to SMEs in Nigeria. 

    Ibrahim Mohammed, director of the agency’s Corporate Affairs Division, stated, “Bloc, a FinTech infrastructure business with a PSSP license from the Central Bank of Nigeria, is well positioned to fulfill the duties of the collaboration.” According to the statement, SMEDAN and Bloc created an automatic referral mechanism that enables SMEs to quickly access FinTech services that are favourable to their business model. 

    The system gives SMEs access to digital financial tools, social commerce platforms, financing services, digital banking services, and industry-specific supply chain solutions.

    Read also: Egyptian Brotinni Acquires A Seed Investment Of $600,000 To Grow Network

    What are they saying?

    Mr Wale Fasanya, director-general and chief executive officer of SMEDAN, said the agency is committed to fostering the progress of SMEs in Nigeria with multiple interventions. 

    Additionally, he said FinTech can help in this mission by diversifying and extending their marketing and sales from purely digital channels to SMEDAN’s confirmed database of diverse SMEs operating across multiple sectors and geographies in Nigeria.

    He said, “We know that this partnership with Bloc and the platforms that will come after it will help the SMEs that work with us by making it easier for them to use the specialized services made by Nigeria’s innovative fintech sector.”

    The CEO of SMEDAN continued, “We have over 4,000,000 registered FinTechs, and we are always thinking of ways to improve their existence.” “Our success is measured by how much we can do for them, and we believe we have shown our own level of innovation by developing this platform with Bloc.” 

    Furthermore, the platform created by SMEDAN and Bloc will enable some of these FinTechs to offer their excellent services to SMEs who would not have otherwise been aware of what they do, according to the business development officer of Bloc, Mr. Kingsley Ikart.

    Also, he said the collaboration between his company and SMEDAN was advantageous for both parties because the SMEs can now take advantage of these innovations without exerting themselves or sacrificing the time they need to devote to running their companies.

    Ikart said his company’s relationship with SMEDAN was a win-win since SMEs can now benefit from innovations without sacrificing business time. Bloc provides bill payment, virtual accounts, and transfer APIs, with physical and virtual cards coming soon.

    About Bloc and SMEDAN 

    Bloc is a FinTech infrastructure startup that offers APIs and tools to organizations that wish to implement digital financial services. 

    SMEDAN, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, is responsible for MSME development in Nigeria. It aims to establish a structured and efficient MSME sector to boost Nigeria’s economic development. 

    Their objective is to help micro, small, and medium businesses and investors get the resources they need.

  • AfDB Grants FSDH $25m Loan to Help Nigerian SMEs

    AfDB Grants FSDH $25m Loan to Help Nigerian SMEs

    An AfDB Group member, FSDH Merchant Bank of Nigeria, has been granted a $15 million trade finance line of credit and a $10 million transaction guarantee to use in making loans to businesses in the country.

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) says that the continent has a trade finance deficit of $82 billion. The AfDB also says that it is harder for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and other domestic businesses to get trade financing than it is for multinational corporations and large local corporations.

    The AfDB $25 million package would help Nigeria close the trade financing gap.

    Under the guarantee part, the lender will additionally guarantee up to 100% of the non-payment risks associated with letters of credit and other comparable trade financing instruments issued by FSDH. This will make it possible to check trade deals started by FSDH, which will help import and export companies in the region.

    Read also: Covid-19: African Development Bank (AfDB) Drives $20 Million Into Off-Grid Recovery Platform

    Over the next three years, the facility will lead to more than $200 million in trade financing transactions in many different fields, such as agriculture, manufacturing, and energy.

    The availability of trade finance instruments to support post-pandemic economic recovery efforts cannot be overemphasized, as stated by the bank’s Director General for Nigeria, Mr. Lamin Barrow. So, the bank’s funding would make it possible for qualified Nigerian SMEs to take advantage of opportunities in the national and regional markets, both now and in the future. Mr. Barrow said that the COVID-19 outbreak and other things had caused international banks to cut back or stop their banking relationships in Africa.

    The facility is in line with the lender’s strategy for developing Africa’s financial systems and financial sector development policy. Additionally, it supports two of the bank’s top five strategic initiatives, namely industrializing Africa and feeding Africa.

    Mr. Stefan Nalletamby, the bank’s Director for Financial Sector Development, said, “We are excited about finalizing this facility with FSDH because having the bank as a partner would allow FSDH to step up its trade finance solutions in Nigeria to help fill the gap in trade financing that keeps getting bigger.”

    Over the next three and a half years, this cooperation is expected to lead to more than $200 million in trade financing deals in many different industries, such as agriculture, manufacturing, and energy.

    The two pillars serve as the foundation for the African Development Bank’s current Nigeria strategy: aiding in infrastructural development and fostering social inclusion via agribusiness and skill development. From its financing and non-lending operations, the bank thinks there are several prospects for women and young people.

    The bank now has 53 active accounts in Nigeria, with a total market value of $4.5 billion. A total of 30 sovereign activities totaling $2.7 billion make up this, accounting for 60% of all obligations. There are also 23 non-sovereign enterprises worth $1.8 billion.

    AFDB Approves Establishment of African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation

    The initiative will also increase financing for African women SMEs

    The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is working with the Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) and the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative to help women-owned and led small and medium-sized businesses (WSMEs) in Southern, East, and West Africa get better access to capital and markets.

    The newly launched AWIEF initiative, Solutions Catalysing Increased Access to Capital for the Success of Women Entrepreneurs, seeks to hasten efforts to combat gender inequality and promote inclusive economic development.

    In eight African nations (Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Zambia, Rwanda, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe), more than 500 growth-oriented women-owned microenterprises (SMEs) will get assistance for size, access to markets, and investment preparedness.

    Over the course of the two-year program, a pipeline of investment-worthy companies that are ready to get money will be built.