At the third edition of the Africa Credit Expo (ACE) policymakers, lenders and innovators stressed that if Africa wants credit to drive its next stage of growth, leaders must stop theorising and start building systems that people and small businesses can use today.
Themed “Unlocking Africa’s Finance Story,” the Africa Credit Expo 2025, which took place at the Landmark Event Centre, Lagos, was organised by CreditRegistry with Afreximbank as founding sponsor.
The one-day forum drew government officials, international development banks, fintech founders, credit bureaus and SMEs from across the continent. It combined policy announcements, new partnerships and practical showcases aimed at expanding credit access while protecting consumers.
Three clear priorities
Reiterating that practicality has become indispensable in the finance space, speakers emphasised a short list of priorities that should guide immediate action. These include:
- Build verifiable financial identity and integrate alternative data so lenders can underwrite millions without collateral.
- Pair access with education; financial literacy must scale if credit is to be used responsibly.
- Make cross-border infrastructure real: interoperable IDs, payment rails and trade platforms that recognise credit records across countries.
“We want to empower people to own the pond, because that way they’ll feed their generations,” Dr Jameelah Sharrieff-Ayedun, MD/CEO, CreditRegistry, said as she laid out ACE’s consumer education and ‘Black Friday on Credit’ initiatives aimed at rewarding disciplined borrowers.
Mastercard’s West Africa Chief, Dr Folashade Femi Lawal, spelt out the scale Mastercard is targeting and the firm’s partnership role: “We empower economies. We power businesses. We empower the people to the last mile, and we build sustainable economy where every player in the value chain, where they prosper.”
Representing the Central Bank of Nigeria, Fidelis Odia urged collaboration and stressed the regulator’s priorities: “Access to credit is not merely a financial transaction, it is a catalyst that empowers entrepreneurs fortified small and medium enterprises, first in essential job creation, accessory for the long term viability and resilience of our economy.”
Tunde Lemo of the CBN struck a note on self-reliance: “We shouldn’t look in the west or in the northern hemisphere for this to happen, because capital and all the opportunities are here in Africa,” he said, highlighting that the continent’s capital and demand exist if systems are fixed.
Afreximbank’s MANSA initiative, represented by Mrs Maureen Mba, made the case that trade finance and digital identity are two halves of the same story: build trade rails and you create markets that justify credit at scale. “Africa’s greatest contact resource is not its minerals, it is the entrepreneurial potential.”
Announcements and partnerships
CreditRegistry leveraged ACE 2025 to convert several policy conversations into formal commitments. The event included the signing of two memoranda of understanding: one with Afreximbank’s MANSA Digital Initiative and another with the University of Lagos, agreements intended to drive SME verification, export readiness and consumer education at scale.
Secretary to the State Government, Barr. ‘Bimbola Salu-Hundeyin representing Lagos state governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, revealed directives to support microfinance institutions and local credit initiatives that can be scaled nationally, the kind of sub-national experimentation speakers said will matter.
Keynote takeaways from investors and practitioners
Kyari Abba Bukar, co-founder of Trans Sahara Investment Corporation, and other keynote speakers explained that Africa’s entrepreneurial energy is abundant but credit systems lack the trust signals lenders need.
Their prescription focused on three levers, data, guarantees and product design, to crowd private capital into SMEs and women-led businesses.
They emphasised that innovation is not only technological. It must include new ways of assessing risk (open banking, alternative data), credit guarantee instruments to absorb first losses and skills training so borrowers can use finance productively.
Highlights from Panel session
At Africa Credit Expo 2025, the panel, moderated by Ogbo Awoke Ogbo, focused on smart credit reporting and the practical use of credit scores (CreditRegistry’s “SmartScore”) by lenders and fintechs.
Key practical points included:
- CreditRegistry’s SmartScore range and what the bands mean for access and pricing (100–999 scale; higher bands enable negotiation of interest rates).
- The power and limits of alternative data (telco records, digital footprints) used by digital lenders to onboard customers without prior formal credit history.
- Lenders must combine scores with affordability analysis, a high score is not a sole green light; product design must reflect capacity to repay.
- Need for consumer education so people understand what affects their score (loan enquiries, repayment behaviour) and how to improve it.
- Cybersecurity and data integrity were flagged as prerequisites: more data without protection is a risk, not an asset.
Africa Credit Expo 2025 showed growth in the sector, with public officials, development banks and private players switching from talk to deliverables; MoUs, state directives, product pilots.
It also outlined the three imminent needs:
- Operational interoperability: IDs, payments and credit data must travel across borders and systems.
- Demand-side capacity: push financial literacy and SME support so loans create sustainable businesses, not short-term liabilities.
- A visible pipeline of bankable projects guarantees that patient capital can be deployed quickly.
If those steps are taken, the potential results repeated across the day, to turn Africa’s entrepreneurial energy into measurable growth, moves from aspiration to plan. “The future of African credit is not a prediction; it is a prototype we must build.”
