Fiducia Catalyses Supply Chain Financing Market For SMEs To N12trn

Fiducia, Nigeria’s foremost digital supply chain financing market, has unveiled its supply chain financing platform to address lack of access to credits for Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs) while assuring the need to improve liquidity and catalyse supply chain financing for SMEs to N12 trillion to plug funding gap and catalyse exponential growth.

The digital supply chain financing platform rolled out the first-of-its-kind solution to solve supply chain conundrums that are intractable to Africa SMEs with the mission to catalyse the growth of Nigeria’s supply chain financing market to N12 trillion.

The company gave the assertion while launching the supply chain financing platform noted that SMEs have been launched into the cusp of a new supply chain financing era with its transformative power to plug funding gaps in the untapped market.

This is even as the company reiterated to empower businesses with cutting-edge digital tools to leverage the platforms whole stressing that it would combine innovation and customer-centricity to enable businesses to streamline their financial operations, access untapped finance opportunities, and drive growth.

Fiducia is an innovative platform that connects corporate buyers, suppliers, and financiers in a digital marketplace where invoices can be financed and traded. By leveraging the credit profiles of their corporate buyers, Fiducia provides suppliers access to lowest-cost financing while preserving the liquidity of corporate buyers. For corporate buyers and suppliers alike, Fiducia strengthens cashflow without materially impacting client on-balance sheet loan profiles. For financiers, Fiducia provides access to a greatly expanded pool of previously overlooked corporates and newly de-risked suppliers seeking financing.

Speaking earlier, chairperson of Fiducia, Bunmi Lawson, said the global financing landscape is evolving while urging companies and big corporate to adapt and embrace innovation to remain competitive and relevant in the ever changing environment while ensuring the equitable distribution of wealth.

She said considering the size of MSMEs in Nigeria and the severe effect of big corporates’  payment cycles, there need to explore the supply chain financing market which she stayed was largely untapped.

She charged the need to leverage cutting-edge technology, in building a community of financiers and suppliers adding that this would unlock potentials to improve liquidity, and fuel growth ambitions while mitigating risks and minimizing administrative burdens.

Also speaking at the formal Launch of Fiducia, chief executive officer of Fiducia, Imohimi Aig-Imoukhuede said the International Finance Corporation (IFC) currently estimates the value of Nigeria’s existing supply chain financing sector at around N 3 trillion. If the country’s currently excluded SME supply chains could be brought into play, an additional N 9 trillion could be unlocked for Nigeria’s economy.

He said supply Chain Finance (SCF) is emerging as an effective instrument to reduce financing gaps in developing markets. The current SCF supply meets only about 24 per cent of the potential market. MSMEs are estimated to generate more than half of the SCF opportunity according to the IFC.

Elaborating on the Launch, Imohimi Aig- Imoukhuede, said:

“Fiducia is founded with the express purpose of levelling the playing field for business owners in Africa by unlocking the value of their supply chains. Today, Fiducia is successfully driving inclusive GDP growth by broadening financial inclusion – as a wider pool of small and mid-sized businesses enter Africa’s financial markets on the same terms and rates previously only available to large corporates. Fiducia’s financial services and funding partner ecosystem includes many of Africa’s top developmental finance institutions, equally committed to solving Africa’s supply-chain finance challenges.”

Aig-Imoukhuede disclosed that Fiducia was a game-changer for smaller businesses and mid-sized corporates, as they historically wasted resources on complex, time-consuming funding application processes that seldom delivered the desired results.

Aig-Imoukhuede assured partners and stakeholders of strictest adherence to both Nigerian and global best practices including data privacy and security supported by an effective legal framework in demonstration of commitment to trust as reflected in the company’s name.