By every global statistic, the continent is digitally switched on. But then, over 70% of its small businesses still cannot access proper finance or usable digital tools. 

We can stream, scan, tap, and swipe, but millions of founders still cannot fund growth or scale operations. That contradiction defines this moment.

Small and medium-sized enterprises account for about 95% of African businesses, generate roughly 40% of GDP, and employ over half of the workforce. The mobile sector alone already contributes more than $140 billion to sub-Saharan Africa’s economy. 

Add to this a population where over 60% are under the age of 25, and the picture becomes clear. Demand is not the problem. Infrastructure is not the problem. Leadership is the differentiator.

2026 is the year where surface-level innovation gives way to execution. The first wave of technology built rails, wallets, and connectivity. The next wave must bring credit that works, platforms that hold up under pressure, products people trust, and systems that serve the informal and formal economy equally. This work is quieter, slower, and far more difficult.

The people featured in this list are operating inside that gap. They are not reacting to growth but are organising it. Across finance, platforms, design, security, public systems, and digital services, these leaders are standing to enhance how Africa’s technology actually functions, not just how it is marketed.

These are the emerging leaders in tech to watch in 2026, because while the continent is busy counting connections, they are building results. 

In no particular order, they include:

1. Adeshina Adewumi

If Africa’s next chapter of growth will still be driven by small businesses, then the people in the background, fixing access to money deserve close attention. Adeshina Adewumi is one of them. 

We see his work as infrastructure in motion. After more than a decade across banking, asset management, and digital ventures, he now operates at the point where policy goal meets street-level execution. 

His experience at institutions like Stanbic IBTC gave him structure. His ventures gave him speed. The result is a founder who understands both the limits of traditional finance and the urgency of replacing it with something that actually works for SMEs.

At Trade Lenda, Adewumi is not just building a fintech product; he is building trust at scale. A community of over 260,000 SMEs does not grow by marketing alone. It grows because the platform solves a relatable problem, which is access to credit, insurance, and micro savings for businesses that banks routinely ignore. 

What makes this worth watching in 2026 is not the size of the network, but the model behind it. Data-driven credit decisions, mobile-first delivery, and partnerships that strengthen SME bankability rather than trap founders in debt cycles. This is why global recognition, from the Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech to IFC and EY awards, keeps following his work.

What elevates Adewumi into the emerging leader bracket is range. Through One Kiosk Africa, he is also tackling retail inefficiencies by connecting small merchants, supermarkets, and farmers directly to digital markets. 

Few founders operate confidently at the intersection of finance, retail technology, and trade policy. Fewer still sit on international trade bodies while building tools for market women and shop owners. 

He believes that Africa’s sustainability will be funded by structured, inclusive financing that allows MSMEs to grow on their own terms. By 2026, that philosophy may well impact how financial inclusion is measured across the continent.

2. Joshua Esiebo

That next chapter we talk about in Africa’s tech growth will not be driven only by startups. It will also be built inside large institutions that are reinventing themselves. Joshua Esiebo sits at that critical junction. 

At MTN, Africa’s largest telecoms group, his work as a senior manager in platforms management directly influences how millions experience digital services every day. His role is not limited to products, but more about direction, guiding a telecom giant away from pure connectivity and into a fully formed digital ecosystem.

Across Ayoba, MyMTN eMarketplace, MTN Play, and premium content platforms, Esiebo operates where technology, partnerships, and customer experience overlap. Platforms fail or scale based on governance, integration, and usability, so, you can tell how important his work is.

His focus on platform thinking, bringing content, payments, gaming, and data into coherent systems, is exactly what MTN needs as it executes its Ambition 2025 strategy and looks beyond it. By 2026, the success of MTN’s digital services will depend heavily on how well these platforms work together, not just how many users they attract.

What makes Esiebo one of the emerging leaders in tech to watch in 2026 is his ecosystem mindset. He builds with partners, not around them. OTT providers, fintech players, content creators, and startups all plug into systems designed for scale and reliability. 

Importantly, his work prioritises accessibility, ensuring platforms serve both urban and rural users without friction. This customer-first discipline is usually talked about and rarely enforced. As MTN strengthens its drive into fintech and digital lifestyle services, Esiebo represents a new class of African tech leader, platform-driven, partnership-led, and quietly influential.

3. Emmanuel Olorundare

Great technology fails without good design. Emmanuel Olorundare has built a career proving the opposite. When design is done right, products travel, scale, and stay resilient. 

A senior product designer, creative technologist, and startup co-founder, his work already spans Europe, Africa, the UK, and now North America.

He has built digital products that do not just scale geographically, but culturally. His influence is heavy on how complex systems are turned into simple, usable experiences that millions rely on daily.

As Co-founder of Gupta, supporting over 3,000 businesses globally, Olorundare operates at the sharp end of product execution. His fingerprints are also on platforms like AfriPay, which simplifies international payments for African students and migrants, and ShipAfrica, now active in over 200 countries. 

These are not design exercises but operational products solving payment friction, logistics complexity, and trust gaps across borders. Add to this Jami, a UK-based social platform focused on worthy connections, and we see a pattern;  Olorundare builds products where human behaviour, technology, and scale collide.

What places him among emerging leaders in tech to watch in 2026 is depth. His experience spans fintech, logistics, edtech, civic platforms, and AI-powered applications, yet his approach remains grounded in human-centred thinking. 

Beyond delivery, he is building future talent through mentorship across more than ten countries and UK-certified design education programmes. With an engineering-informed mindset and a designer’s instinct, he brings clarity to chaos and momentum to ideas. 

Design leadership is the difference between products people tolerate and products they trust. Emmanuel Olorundare understands this better than most.

4. Ogechi Okwechime

Some leaders build products. Others build markets. Ogechi Okwechime does both, and that is why she belongs on any serious watchlist for 2026. With more than fifteen years across banking and fintech, she has mastered the hard part of innovation in Africa, which is turning complex infrastructure into something businesses can actually use. 

At Interswitch, as Divisional Head of Growth Marketing for Enterprise Solutions, she operates behind the scenes of systems backing payments, preventing fraud, and keeping commerce moving at scale.

What makes her unique is her ability to turn technical depth into commercial momentum. When Verve needed to move beyond national relevance, Okwechime helped drive the strategy that transformed it into a truly African card scheme, active in over 22 countries. 

This was not expansion for clout. It was functional growth. Cards that worked across borders. Users who could shop on international platforms. Local consumers plugged into the global digital economy without friction. That alone changed how African payments are perceived.

Her record before Interswitch holds the same depth. At Access Bank, she helped launch digital loan products that reached over 50,000 borrowers. At Fidelity Bank, she scaled Instant Banking from nothing to more than 600,000 users. These are adoption numbers that reflect trust.

By 2026, as enterprise fintech solutions become more urgent to Africa’s economic plumbing, leaders like Okwechime, who combine product-led growth with disciplined execution, will define who wins and who fades.

5. Wallace Omobhude

Africa’s digital sustainability will be determined by how well large platforms understand entertainment, data, and youth culture. Wallace Omobhude is already deep in that work. 

At MTN Nigeria, he leads strategy for digital services with a focus on video and gaming, two verticals that sit at the centre of attention, engagement, and new revenue models. This is where telecoms stop selling data and start owning digital experiences.

Omobhude operates at a difficult confluence of product teams, marketing, regulators, and external content partners all pulling in different directions. His strength lies in alignment. OTT partnerships, VAS integrations, and regulatory compliance are handled with the same discipline as go-to-market execution. 

The result is platforms that scale without disorder. His work feeds directly into MTN’s diversification strategy, opening up entertainment-led revenue streams in a market where youth demographics are impossible to ignore.

Why watch him in 2026? Because MTN’s next phase depends on leaders who understand ecosystems. Omobhude’s data-driven approach, combined with sharp consumer insight, positions MTN to capture value far beyond connectivity. 

Gaming, video, and digital content are not side projects anymore. They are core to how Africa’s largest telecom stays relevant. Leaders who can build and govern these platforms will impact the industry’s direction. Wallace is already doing that work.

6. Nnaemeka Ani

Every tech ecosystem needs builders who think beyond products and into purpose. Nnaemeka Ani is one of those rare figures. He does not go after trends. He dismantles problems to their core and rebuilds from first principles. 

As Founder of MGX Research Centre and MexyGabriel Tech Company, Ani operates across research, infrastructure, policy, and execution, a combination that gives his work unusual depth and national relevance.

MGX Research is not a think tank for theory’s sake. It is a working laboratory focused on deployable systems across data science, cybersecurity, digital identity, smart cities, education, health, robotics, and automation. 

Ani believes that Africa’s growth will not come from borrowed solutions, but from systems designed for local realities and owned locally. This philosophy drives his push for digital sovereignty and African-built data infrastructure, turning code into both social and commercial value.

His influence expands into governance. As Special Adviser on ICT to the Enugu State Governor, Ani is proving that technology and public policy do not have to operate in parallel worlds. His work in Enugu shows what happens when political will meets technical clarity, resulting in better services, smarter systems, and a functional digital ecosystem. 

With Nigeria approaching major milestones in broadband expansion and tax reform in 2026, Ani represents a new kind of leader, part technologist, part reformer, fully invested in nation-building. He is one of the emerging leaders in tech to watch in 2026 not because he speaks loudly, but because his work changes structures.

7. Abraham Oghenero Efemena

Scale is usually discussed loosely in tech. Abraham Oghenero Efemena treats it as discipline. He is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Apex Web Network Limited who has built a fintech platform operating across Africa and key European markets, with a focus on structure, resilience, and growth.

His leadership style is more operational than performative. Systems first. Expansion second. Noise last.

Reaching 300,000 active users in 2025 is not a small win. It shows product trust across borders, regulatory environments, and user behaviour patterns. That kind of traction only happens when infrastructure works quietly and consistently. 

Efemena oversees every moving part of Apex Web Network, ensuring teams, technology, and market strategy move in sync. This hands-on leadership is essential in fintech, where failure usually comes from weak internal alignment rather than bad ideas.

Why is he among the emerging leaders in tech to watch in 2026? Because the next phase goes beyond surviving to controlled expansion. As Apex Web Network grows its user base and deepens its footprint, Efemena is building the company to compete in markets where compliance, security, and user experience determine winners. He represents a class of founders building for longevity.

8. Victor Daniyan

Payments are the bloodstream of any digital economy. Victor Daniyan understands this, and he is rebuilding how that system works across Africa. 

The CEO and Founder of Nearpays is pushing payment acceptance away from hardware-heavy models and into scalable, software-led infrastructure. We could call his work foundational, because when payments become easier, entire ecosystems are opened.

Nearpays has received recognition from EY, TechCabal, BusinessDay, and global platforms such as GITEX and the UN AI for Good Innovation Factory. The startup is empowering over 50,000 users through contactless and Soft POS solutions. 

Daniyan’s leadership sits on applied innovation and real-world adoption, proving that inclusion works best when technology fades into the background.

Looking forward to 2026, the company is entering its scale phase, with expansion in Nigeria and Ghana, stronger collaboration with Visa, and a focus on usability. Victor Daniyan stands among emerging leaders in tech to watch in 2026 because he is not just building a fintech product, but changing how businesses participate in the digital economy. That impact will only grow.

9. Peter Ndukwo

Every digital system is only as strong as the people testing its limits. Peter Ndukwo lives at that edge. As a Web3 Security Researcher and Smart Contract Auditor, his work protects some of the most valuable and complex decentralised systems in the world. When security fails, innovation collapses.

His record speaks; Audits on Chainlink, ZetaChain, and Brevis Pico. Multiple high-severity vulnerabilities discovered solo. Over 30 competitive audit wins across Sherlock and Code4rena. These are not academic exercises, they secure billions in value and protect users. 

Beyond these, his work at Zippel Labs places him inside zero-knowledge systems and cryptographic research driving the next generation of blockchain infrastructure.

Why he is placed among emerging tech leaders to watch in 2026 is not far-fetched. With decentralised systems becoming more complex, the cost of failure increases. Ndukwo is securing protocols and also mentoring African security researchers, as well as building tools to automate vulnerability discovery. 

He represents a system where Africa goes beyond using just decentralised systems to actively safeguarding and enhancing them.

10. Oluwatomi Alagbe

Security leadership today demands more than defence. It demands foresight. Oluwatomi Alagbe, one of the emerging tech leaders to watch in 2026, brings that perspective. Based in Tallinn and working at the convergence of cybersecurity, crypto, and advanced research systems, his career shows depth rather than drift. His strength is seen in how he turns complex risk into systems people can actually trust.

From protecting users at Malwarebytes to contributing to Caesar’s deep research platform, Alagbe’s work centres on resilience. He does not chase threats reactively; he builds frameworks that anticipate them. 

His experience across AI-driven systems and crypto environments gives him a rare interdisciplinary view, one that is becoming more important as boundaries between sectors blur.

What makes 2026 pivotal is what he is building next. Razzle, an AI-native communication platform, challenges how teams collaborate by placing intelligent systems at the core, not the edges. 

Alongside this, his continued work at Caesar focuses on reliability and real-world applicability, not abstraction. Alagbe is unique because he understands that trust is the currency of the next digital era, and security is how that trust is earned.

The post Emerging Tech Leaders to Watch in 2026 appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

On Friday, 16 May 2025, the company gathered stakeholders at the UNDP Innovation Centre, Lagos, to reflect on a journey that began in 2021 with a mission to break down financial limitations for Nigeria’s underserved small businesses. 

Today, the numbers do the talking; Trade Lenda has supported thousands of MSMEs’ operations in over 100 markets nationwide, and over $10 million committed toward expanding access to productive credit.

We were there to witness a company that isn’t simply surviving, Trade Lenda is growing, building, and leading a movement for inclusive finance.

From inception, Trade Lenda set out to disrupt the status quo. “Our mission was to democratise access to finance for the underserved Small and Medium Scale businesses across Nigeria, Africa, and emerging markets,” said Adeshina Adewumi, CEO and founder of Trade Lenda.

“We understood early on that inclusion must go beyond slogans.”

And the company has acted on that understanding. Trade Lenda has disbursed credit to a vast network of traders, women-led cooperatives, and rural entrepreneurs. Its technology has bridged gaps where traditional banks fall short. 

Trade Lenda’s partnerships, especially with development finance institutions and grassroots organisations, have enabled the company to deliver practical value to groups usually excluded from formal finance. 

In the last four years alone, the fintech company has empowered single mothers expanding their shops, farmers increasing their hectares under cultivation, and informal traders creating new jobs.

More than just a fintech, Trade Lenda is taking a policy-facing role. “We are evolving from just a financial access platform to becoming an activist for shared economic prosperity,” Adewumi said. 

Selected among 10 semi-finalists in the Milken-Motsepe Prize competition, 2024, the fintech company’s new vision involves lobbying for inclusive finance policies, enabling women’s economic empowerment through targeted capacity-building, and applying data-driven models to tackle poverty and food insecurity.

And Trade Lenda is not alone in this mission.

In a panel session, speakers from VFD Microfinance Bank, UNDP Nigeria, and other ecosystem players stressed the urgent need for institutional reform to support financial inclusion. 

According to Trade Lenda, over $10 million has already been committed over the next two years, targeting support for women entrepreneurs and small-scale traders. 

Trade Lenda now seeks to expand that fund to $20 million within the next three years. And in a strategic move, the company is working to become a full-fledged financial institution, deepening its role in a space it has helped redefine.

UNDP’s partnership with Trade Lenda has already provided climate and crop data to rural farmers to enhance resilience and boost yields.

“You can’t throw generic solutions at complex, local problems,” Lantana Elhassan, head of exploration at UNDP Nigeria, said. “You scale with partners who understand context.”

Inconsistent policies, climate impacts, cultural biases against women-led businesses—these were all named as threats to progress. But the resolve to address them was just as firm.

Trade Lenda’s track record goes beyond credit, the organisation is investing in financial literacy, building trust in underserved communities, and opening up access through tech tools designed for inclusion, not exclusion. Its model is a rebuttal to anyone who believes profitability and impact are mutually exclusive.

“As we cut our way forward to the next chapter,” Adewumi concluded, “our call today is not just for celebration, it is for alignment. Let’s finance the future of inclusion with intentional capital.”

Indeed, with a growing coalition of stakeholders, it looks like Trade Lenda’s next chapter could have even greater impact. Not just for the company, but for the thousands of entrepreneurs whose potential has long been overlooked.

The post Trade Lenda Celebrates 4 Years of Driving Financial Inclusion for Nigerian SMEs appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

High-cost borrowing often forces people to take new loans to pay off existing debts, creating a vicious debt cycle, particularly affecting lower-income Nigerians.

The number of approved digital lenders in Nigeria has increased by 79.77% since April 2023, reaching 311 registered lenders by September 2024. 

This growth aligns with a 329.28% year-on-year rise in personal loans, which totalled ₦7.52 trillion in March 2024, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). 

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) registers digital lenders under the Limited Interim Regulatory/Registration Framework and Guidelines for Digital Lending 2022, requiring registration and approval. 

Fully approved lenders grew from 119 to 269, while conditional approvals fell from 54 to 42. The rise in consumer credit is linked to inflation, which reached 32.15% in August 2024, and the increasing demand for accessible loans through fintech.

Growing Consumer Credit and Inflation

The CBN attributes the surge in consumer credit to inflation and the popularity of loan apps. A 2023 report from Piggyvest showed that four in ten Nigerians are in debt, with 26% owing loan apps. Another study from SBM Intelligence found 27% of Nigerians, across income categories, turning to loan apps to cope with living expenses amidst record inflation. 

Trade Lenda’s CEO Adeshina Adewumi noted that “rising cost directly impacts the need to access more funds.” Similarly, Money Lenders Association President Gbemi Adelekan confirmed that “demand for loans has increased double-fold due to hardship,” with loan demand growing at 5% monthly, according to Babatunde Akin-Moses of Sycamore.

The Impact on Borrowers and Economic Distress

Loan apps are popular for their accessibility and speed. Apps like FairMoney, Carbon, and Palmcredit have made it possible for people to get quick, unsecured loans. 

According to recent reports, these platforms have collectively issued billions of naira in loans. The apps appeal because they require no collateral, have quick processing times, and are available to people without access to traditional banking. 

CBN governor Olayemi Cardoso predicted that mobile money and digital lending would drive service sector growth, with more people borrowing. 

However, Prof. Bongo Adi from Lagos Business School noted that most loans are for consumption, pushing borrowers into deeper debt. His research shows that borrowers spend their loaned funds quickly, then struggle to repay, driving them further into financial instability.

Loan Sharks and the Debt Trap

Loan apps often charge high interest rates, sometimes reaching 90%, mimicking traditional loan sharks. Borrowers face challenges with high repayment demands, hidden fees, and aggressive recovery methods, such as harassment and public shaming. What initially seems like a short-term solution can quickly spiral, leading to a debt trap that is difficult to escape.

On average, digital loan apps charge monthly interest rates of 15-30%, with annual rates surpassing 200% in some cases.

These add to financial distress and mental health issues, with anxiety and depression on the rise among borrowers. 

Poverty and Debt’s Impact

Approximately 70% of Nigerians live on less than ₦1,500 per day. High-interest loan repayments take away household incomes, forcing families to sacrifice essentials and perpetuating the poverty cycle. 

This financial limitation affects the current generation and also risks intergenerational poverty, impacting children’s future education and growth opportunities.

Regulatory Challenges and the Need for Reform

While the FCCPC introduced a regulatory framework in 2022, enforcement remains challenging due to the volume of loan apps and the complexity of monitoring their practices. 

Former FCCPC CEO Babatunde Irukera has highlighted the issue of multiple loans from various apps leading to unmanageable debt. A centralized credit information system will improve accountability by offering lenders insights into borrower histories, promoting better lending methods. 

However, gaps in consumer protection remain, pointing to the need for stronger regulations, including possible interest rate caps, transparency requirements, and limitations on debt collection methods.

Proposed Solutions: Alternatives and Financial Literacy

Expanding financial literacy programs could empower Nigerians to make better borrowing decisions. Community-based lending models, like cooperatives and savings groups, could provide low-interest options. 

Collaboration between NGOs, financial institutions, and the government could help provide affordable loans and support financial education. With these measures, Nigeria can address the risks associated with digital loan apps while providing safe financial alternatives for those in need.

Strengthen Regulatory Frameworks

• Enforce Existing Regulations: The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should enforce existing regulations more strictly to ensure compliance by digital lenders.
• Update Guidelines: Regularly update the Limited Interim Regulatory/Registration Framework and Guidelines for Digital Lending to address emerging issues and close loopholes.

Increase Financial Literacy

• Educational Programs: Implement nationwide financial literacy programs to educate consumers about responsible borrowing, the risks of high-interest loans, and how to read loan terms and conditions.
• Workshops and Seminars: Conduct workshops and seminars in communities to raise awareness about the dangers of falling into debt traps and how to avoid them.

Promote Alternative Financial Services

• Microfinance Institutions: Encourage the use of microfinance institutions that offer lower interest rates and more flexible repayment terms.
• Community Savings Groups: Support the establishment of community savings groups where members can pool resources and access funds without resorting to high-interest loans.

Enhance Consumer Protection

• Transparent Loan Terms: Ensure that loan apps provide clear and transparent information about interest rates, fees, and repayment terms.
• Complaint Mechanisms: Establish strong complaint mechanisms for borrowers to report issues with loan apps and seek redress

Encourage Responsible Lending Practices

• Interest Rate Caps: Implement interest rate caps to prevent loan apps from charging exorbitant rates.
• Ethical Standards: Promote better lending processes among digital lenders, including fair treatment of borrowers and avoidance of harassment and blackmail.

Support for Borrowers in Debt

• Debt Relief Programs: Develop debt relief programs to help borrowers manage and reduce their debt burden.
• Counselling Services: Provide access to financial counselling services to help borrowers develop repayment plans and manage their finances effectively.

The post Debt Trap: Are Loan Apps Creating a New Wave of Poverty in Nigeria? appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

This grants Trade Lenda the opportunity to compete for a $1 million grand prize which will help the startup further enhance its services and expand its impact across Africa, continually driving financial inclusion for SMEs.

Adeshina Adewumi, founder of Trade Lenda, said: “This is a validation of our work, our team’s commitment to driving inclusive access to finance for all SMEs in Africa regardless of their gender or background, starting with Nigeria.”

The Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech is a global competition that aims to accelerate financial inclusion and economic development. Trade Lenda will now participate in the Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Conference, which will be held in Abu Dhabi from December 5-8, 2024. 

This event will enable the company to share its mission and achievements with global stakeholders committed to the development of Africa and other emerging markets.

Adeshina Adewumi also noted what the $1 million grand prize could mean for Trade Lenda: “The final, all things being equal, would see us compete for the grand prize of $1 million to enable us to accelerate our distribution channels, strengthen our people and technology, as well as give us an edge to negotiate lower rates for the SMEs we support across our markets.”

Trade Lenda offers a range of services designed to the needs of SMEs, including short-term loans, investment opportunities, and utility payment solutions. 

The company’s loan application process is developed to be simple and accessible, requiring only a BVN number for a quick credit score assessment.

One of the company’s outstanding services is its diverse financing solutions for different sectors, including general merchandise commerce, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), clean energy projects, and agricultural commodities. 

This focus on sector-specific support has earned Trade Lenda the trust of over 24,000 SMEs and merchants, with monthly disbursements exceeding ₦1 billion. The company’s financial products range from working capital financing and local purchase order financing to Islamic financing options like Murabaha and Musharakah.

Going further, Trade Lenda aims to continue its mission of driving financial inclusion for SMEs across Africa. The company’s long-term vision aligns with several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those related to poverty alleviation, gender equality, and economic growth. 

With this recent achievement in the Milken-Motsepe Prize competition, Trade Lenda aims to take its innovative solutions to the next level, potentially contributing to the creation of 1 million jobs across Africa by 2027.

The post Nigerian FinTech Startup Trade Lenda Selected as Top 10 Semi-Finalist for Milken-Motsepe Prize appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Adeshina Adewumi, founder/CEO, Trade Lenda, “As you know, our core mandate is centered around empowering SMEs through strategic financing. Since May 2021, we have facilitated over $5million to support businesses and built systems to remove the access-to-finance gaps associated with growing a thriving business in Nigeria and soon the focus will be across various African markets.

“After closing our Pre-Seed in January 2023, we took a further step in entrenching our footprint across the grassroots and getting to know our user demography better. We rolled out various initiatives to bridge the financial and digital literacy gaps of small business owners across major markets in Nigeria.

“One of those initiatives included the Trade Lenda SME Fair held in Lagos and had the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria, as our Father of the Day and Guest Speaker.

The program which was held in partnership with financial and non-financial institutions like Providus Bank, Paystack, Eazipay, Credo, Baobab+ among others saw representation of SMEs from across various States in Nigeria coming to Lagos, left us with explorative data that we needed to do more for Women and Shariah Complaint Businesses.

For the records, 90% representation were women-led businesses and top 5 businesses who won grants award out of over 2,000 applicants were women.

A journey which started off with Trade Lenda getting fully certified by the Shari’ah Board of Marble Advisory Limited on 11th January 2024 as well as various discussions in line with the theme for the United Nations International Women’s Day 2024 “Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress” has now seen us with a clear path with Marble Capital, FSDH Merchant Bank and Sterling Bank to support more women become financially included.

While I must say that we still have lots of other stakeholders in the pipeline, we are happy to launch today and commence tracking the dividends of empowering more women to grow and scale their businesses beyond Nigeria.

“While this specific fund announced is targeted specifically towards women and Shari’ah-Complaint businesses, we would continue to utilize our general pool from our ongoing Seed round to support businesses across gender agnostic lens.

“Over the last years, we have tracked the effect of empowering SMEs; Remarkably, new jobs have been created across our operators in Agriculture, Fast Consumer Moving Goods, Oil and Gas, Renewables and General Trading. One of our top customers recently rolled out their 4^th Gas Plant in Plateau State Nigeria and we have lots of other success stories from across Nigeria. We believe this is just Day 1″, he said.

Find out more by emailing: info@tradelenda.com

The post Trade Lenda Launches N10 billion Fund for Women, Shariah Complaint Businesses appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Trade Lenda is a digital financial service solution supporting small businesses to get quick and affordable access to credit with zero upfront collateral within 6 hours, with request to disbursement time goal in an interval of an hour over the next few months.

Through the fintech company’s data driven credit scoring platform, Trade Lenda leverages on data to evaluate character and capacity, bridging access to quick and efficient finance gaps for millions of small retailers as well as suppliers across emerging markets, starting with Nigeria.

According to PWC MSMEs report 2020 and IFC report 2021, access to finance is a major challenge for MSMEs with a 5 trillion dollar opportunity market across developing economies, with Nigeria representing over $29 billion opportunity market. Trade Lenda is tackling this issue.

The company was founded by individuals who already had their own companies and had experience working in the traditional financial service space. “We have seen how hard it is to access credit opportunities and the significant impact timely working capital brings to the table. Sometimes the different business survival and death of small business is quick timely access to working capital at an average of $1000,” Adeshina Adewumi, co-founder, Trade Lenda pointed out.

The team started off with a micro test through a partnership where over $500,000 was facilitated in disbursement to support trade businesses during the heights of the pandemic. Later in May 2021, the founder decided to extend the company’s solution to a close beta with over $300,000 disbursed to about 500 small businesses and the same fully repaid. “Yes we’ve so far achieved 100% success repayment,” Adewumi emphasised. 

“Today, we have gone further to sign up six strategic partnerships which currently gives us a subscribed list of over 150,000 active retailers and suppliers to support with timely working capital and Local Purchase Order invoicing.”

The team of three co-founders include Adeshina Adewumi, a social entrepreneur passionate about the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa and the globe. He is an ex Banker and Wealth Management expert from Stanbic IBTC who previously founded One Kiosk and also served as a Venture Partner at Aptive Capital between 2020 and 2021.

On the other hand, Shina Arogundade is an experienced credit analyst having worked for United Bank for Africa for a number of years and wrote credit policies for the bank in 20 African countries. He was part of the team that championed the Credit automation and a first product launched in Ghana and then replicated across 19 other African countries.

Meanwhile, Oluwatosin Ayodele, a full stack Software Engineer who originally studied accounting, was driven to become self-taught by his passion for technology. Over the last eight years, he has developed various solutions individually and as a team with applause from his State as well as at Federal Government levels in Nigeria. He is also a winner of the Kick start Award (season 3) by International breweries — subsidiary of AB-inbev — where he was celebrated for leveraging technology to deepen internet coverage within his community in Osun State Nigeria.

Today, the experts have come together to build the next Unicorn while contributing meaningfully towards eradicating poverty, creating jobs and driving industry innovation through the small businesses supported with the company’s solution.

The Competition

“The competition is very dynamic with most players focusing more on the digital consumer (salary earners) lending even when they claim to focus on small businesses,” Adewumi said. “We have however created a niche for ourselves by focusing on MSMEs especially those within the retail and supply value chain. We must however give credit to other players like Payhippo and Sycamore who are also working to bridge this gap for small businesses.”

The founders’ insights of the market and opportunity can however be traced to their deep insights working with retailers and suppliers to give them access to the market. “We saw the opportunity and decided to be the bridge towards unlocking the dividends of access to finance to secure trade for retailers and suppliers across emerging markets.”

Funding 

Since conception, Trade Lenda has been able to cycle over $250,000 in debt from various Angels — friends and family inclusive — at various points while an equity investment of $20,000 was raised through an Angel who also happens to be a former senior colleague while at Stanbic IBTC. 

Also, the founders equally brought their contribution in cash and cash equivalent to the table. Officially Trade Lenda has been able to fully disburse and achieve 100% repayment so far. “Today with over 150,000 retailers — online and structured informal markets — signed, we see this as a stepping stone to the next milestone.”

The work of Trade Lenda commenced on its WebApp in May 2021 and within 8 weeks, it had a fully functional platform to support small businesses and achieved quick and prompt access to finance. Adewumi says the company would be rolling out fully within the next few weeks (Q1 2022) once they close their current $1million funding round.

Profits

Trade Lenda makes profit from charging 5% – 30 days interest on working capital credit disbursed to small businesses owners compared to some others who charge between 10-30% monthly with lots of hassles still involved.

Challenges 

As second time founders and with the team’s experience, they have a soft landing with little or no issues coming together. “In fact we got our first check of $20,000 even before we officially kicked off based on people who believed in us, our precedence and the vision to bridge the gap for millions of underserved small businesses across emerging markets. They have equally gone a step further to facilitate most of the funds we have cycled into bridging this access to finance gaps for small businesses so far,” Adewumi said in a conclusive statement.

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