Nigeria Plans To Turn Unpaid Invoices Into Cash For SMEs

• Verified invoices could help businesses access money before customers pay.

• Exporters, manufacturers and agro-processors are among the intended beneficiaries.

• Trade Minister Jumoke Oduwole has requested a 90-day pilot.

• Borrowing rates, application procedures and detailed eligibility rules remain unconfirmed.

September 23, () – Nigeria is developing a financing route that could allow small businesses to raise cash against verified unpaid invoices, helping them fund operations while waiting for customers to settle their bills.

Industry, Trade and Investment Minister Jumoke Oduwole outlined the proposal at the inaugural meeting of the National Digital Invoicing and Financial Optimisation Strategy steering committee.

She urged the committee to connect digital invoicing with affordable working capital for exporters, manufacturers, agro-processors and other suppliers.

Getting Cash Before Customer Pays

An unpaid invoice records money a customer owes. For a supplier, that future payment cannot immediately buy materials, replenish stock or meet wages.

The proposed approach would make verified invoices a basis for financing. A business could obtain funding against a receivable rather than wait for its customer’s payment date.

Oduwole identified four requirements for the system. Digital infrastructure must establish that invoices and transaction records are authentic. Legal arrangements must clarify ownership and enforcement of payment claims.

Banks, development finance institutions, fintechs, insurers and guarantors must provide financing and risk support. Businesses and their buyers must supply genuine transactions.

Her proposal also covers eligible public-sector counterparties and suppliers in fast-moving consumer goods chains. These are intended areas of participation, not confirmed eligibility for every business operating within them.

Pilot Must Establish Cost of Access

Oduwole requested a 90-day pilot involving selected exporters and business supply chains, with real transactions used to test the financing process.

Reporting published on September 18 also identified compatibility with existing platforms, data protection and cybersecurity among her priorities.

A requested pilot does not establish that lending has begun. Reports reviewed do not provide a confirmed application portal, borrowing rate, detailed eligibility rules or pilot start date.

Those terms will determine how useful the arrangement becomes. Businesses will need to know the fees, how quickly funding arrives and who bears the loss if a customer fails to pay.

Oduwole proposed measuring results through financing unlocked, businesses reached, funding costs and processing times, alongside inventory cycles and export performance.

The proposal offers a potential route to cash already earned but still unpaid For business owners. Access and affordability remain to be demonstrated through the pilot.