The collateral impossible. Then one day, his phone buzzes with an offer: a microloan from a digital lending platform. No collateral. No queues. Just data.

The app analyzed his mobile money transactions and online orders and within hours, the funds landed in his wallet.

With that single loan, Chijioke’s business began to grow. Across Nigeria, thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are experiencing this same quiet revolution. I believe digital lending is changing how entrepreneurs access credit and, in the process, rewriting the rules of small business growth.

SMEs are the lifeblood of Nigeria’s economy, making up over 90% of businesses and contributing nearly half of national GDP.

Yet, they remain chronically underfunded, facing an estimated $158 billion credit gap, according to the IFC. Traditional banks have struggled to lend to SMEs.

The reasons are familiar lack of collateral, insufficient documentation, and the high cost of serving small borrowers. As a result, millions of business owners operate in the shadows, productive but invisible to the formal financial system.

Fintech innovators are changing that equation. Digital lenders use mobile data, transaction histories, and AI-powered algorithms to assess risk in real time without a single form filled or a branch visit required. Platforms like FairMoney, Carbon, and Branch are offering instant, collateral-free loans that reach small business owners in minutes. For many, this is their first taste of formal credit.

As a software developer with experience in building frontend web applications, I have seen firsthand how the real innovation here isn’t speed it’s inclusion.

These platforms are expanding the definition of creditworthiness, rewarding digital footprints instead of paper trails. Still, the ecosystem faces real challenges. Many SME owners lack digital literacy or still distrust online platforms. Loan defaults can spike without proper credit frameworks.

For digital lending to scale sustainably, Nigeria’s regulators and innovators must work together: promoting transparency, enforcing fair lending, and integrating alternative data into national credit systems.

Digital lending isn’t just a fintech story it’s a growth story. When credit becomes data-driven, inclusive, and accessible, small businesses don’t just survive; they thrive.

If Nigeria harnesses this momentum responsibly, digital lending could unlock billions in dormant capital and power millions of small enterprises the real engine of Africa’s economic future. For entrepreneurs like Chijioke, that future has already begun one mobile loan at a time.

*Author: Ikechukwu Madubuike is a frontend developer with over 4 years of experience building scalable digital products.

The company, which transitioned from a general AI solutions provider to a voice-first call centre automation platform just six months ago, is now placing itself as a key backend partner for banks, fintechs, insurers, and ISPs across the continent.

Before voice AI, there was data analytics, and before that, hospitality. Each pivot was a response to market challenges, but the voice AI play is different, revenue is climbing, and the business case is obvious. 

With nearly $1 million in monthly revenue and projections of $10 million in ARR by the end of 2025, Caantin is betting that banks and financial service firms can’t afford to ignore voice-based automation.

The startup’s infrastructure now supports over one million calls per day. Clients include names like Carbon and Fairmoney. In fact, Carbon’s CEO, Chijioke Dozie, is also an investor in Caantin. And it’s not just about performance metrics; it’s about cost-cutting at scale.

Customer service, especially for loan recovery, is one of the most expensive and high-stakes operations in banking. “If these banks stop calling borrowers, they lose money,” said Njawa Mutambo, Caantin’s CEO. “But managing that operation is expensive and fragile. AI is not a nice-to-have. It’s essential for scale.”

Caantin’s pricing is aggressive. In Nigeria, it charges ₦185 per minute (about 12 cents)—which is nine times higher than local telecom operator rates. Yet, for financial institutions bleeding cash on sprawling customer service teams, the ROI more than justifies the premium. 

One of its clients, Nigerian fintech Cowrywise, reportedly managed 100,000 customer calls in just three months using only one human staff, something that would normally require around 30 agents.

Caantin estimates a 933% return on investment and a 1.3-month payback period for businesses switching from human agents to voice AI.

Mutambo had previously raised $2.16 million for TopUp Mama, a procurement platform for restaurants across Kenya and Nigeria. That experience, deeply embedded in B2B logistics, local operations, and scaling infrastructure, appears to be impacting how Caantin is built.

Now, the company is planning to go beyond Africa. Its next major push is Latin America, where the cost of labour is higher, but the challenges of customer engagement are nearly identical. “In Brazil, the cost of call centre labour is around $2 per hour. In Nigeria, it’s closer to 25 cents,” Mutambo said. “So the ROI for AI is even stronger in LATAM.”

Brazil’s $262 minimum wage compared to Nigeria’s $46 only stresses the economic gap Caantin is looking to exploit. And in markets where businesses are desperate to improve margins, automation is now a means for sustainability.

Other companies like YC-backed Bland AI and Observe.AI are also building voice-first platforms. But few are adapting their systems to support African languages or integrate directly with regional fintech infrastructure like Paystack or Flutterwave. That’s where Caantin sees its edge.

“We are a telecoms business tailored to financial services. Their growth becomes our growth,” Mutambo explained. “By serving banks and fintechs, we are effectively hedged within a high-yield vertical.”

The company is developing advanced analytics to pull insights from voice data, turning it into a decision-making asset for clients. This positions Caantin as more than a call automation tool; it’s aiming to become a strategic enterprise layer across industries.

In a continent where under 1% of global AI research is produced, but where infrastructure inefficiencies are common, Caantin’s push for voice-first AI is timely and necessary. High illiteracy, low smartphone usage, and poor connectivity make voice far more inclusive than apps or chatbots.

The global call centre AI market is projected to grow from $1.6 billion in 2022 to over $7.5 billion by 2030. Caantin is angling for a piece of that, starting from Africa but with its eyes clearly fixed on bigger, more lucrative terrain.

Once the terrain of advanced economies, AI is now making its way into a wide range of markets, showing its potential to drive progress in sectors from finance to agriculture and healthcare.

For many, especially those with little technical background and how emerging technology is here to better our lives, the idea of AI can still seem abstract.

But its applications—and opportunities—are not just confined to IT-aware individuals. They are relevant and transformative for everyone, including our local terrain.

Finance

At its centre, AI includes machines imitating human behaviours to perform assignments such as understanding dialect, recognizing pictures, or making choices. In Nigeria, one of the foremost noteworthy impacts of AI can be seen within the fintech sector.

Advanced loaning organizations unlike the traditional banks, like Carbon or FairMoney use AI capabilities to understand client’s credit worthiness, allowing loan credits to be extended to people without conventional credit histories.

Similarly, mobile payment systems use AI to detect fraudulent transactions by looking for irregular patterns and behaviours that does not conform with the history of the client, keeping users’ funds secure.

These tools are reshaping access to financial services for millions of unbanked and the underbanked.

Agriculture

Agriculture is another endeavour where artificial intelligence is making some serious impact, not just in Nigeria but in the general African space. In countries where agribusiness is the spine of their economy, AI capabilities are making a difference in driving efficiency for Farmers.

For instance, AI-powered drones and Internet of Things sensors monitor crops and soil conditions, helping with better decision-making when there is a need.

Concepts such as Hello Tractor, often referred to as the “Uber for tractors,” use AI to connect Agriculturists with tractor services, leading to farming operations optimization and increasing yields.

Such innovations address food security concerns and gives support to rural economies.

Healthcare

The healthcare sector for one is reaping huge benefits of AI, especially in regions with no or limited medical facilities.

In Nigeria, artificial intelligence -driven algorithms and tools are being used to diagnose serious diseases like tuberculosis, malaria and a wide range of illnesses with greater accuracy.

Bots like Ubenwa analyse infants’ cries to detect signs of birth asphyxia, a disorder which causes neonatal deaths.

These inventions through AI are lifesaving, especially in rural areas where there is limited access to specialist doctors.

Across Africa, initiatives like Zipline use AI-guided drones with sensors to deliver medical supplies to inaccessible rural communities, further enhancing healthcare accessibility.

Education

AI’s role in education is another crucial area of impact. In a continent with high levels of school-age population and limited teachers to attend to them, AI-powered platforms are helping bridge the gap. Digital & self-learning tools and virtual tutors personalize education, offering students and pupils tailored support and enabling self-paced learning.

For example, Nigerian edtech platforms like uLesson are already leveraging AI to make quality education more accessible and affordable, even in underserved communities.

While the potential benefits of AI in Africa are immense, there are numerous challenges, particularly when it comes to infrastructure and awareness.

Many Nigerians, and indeed Africans, may view AI as a sophisticated technology meant for super developed countries.

But the reality is that AI can solve local problems in ways that are deeply relevant. A good example is artificial intelligence being used in applications to predict flooding in Nigeria’s river basins, helping communities prepare for natural disasters.

However, the success of these solutions depends on improving internet connection, electricity supply, and digital literacy awareness across the continent.

A big concern around AI is Ethical consideration. As we embrace AI, the question remains; Who controls the data? In the Nigerian market, where data privacy and residency are a growing concern, it’s important that AI systems are developed responsibly.

The subject of responsible and explainable AI must be taken seriously. This includes ensuring that algorithms don’t inadvertently favor one geological location over another or deepen social inequalities. Another concern is the question of job loss.

While automation can free up workers from mundane tasks, it also calls for re-skilling, re-orientation and preparing the populace for jobs in an AI-driven economy.

It’s important to stress that AI is not an autopilot here to replace humans but a copilot to augment human potential.

In the Nigerian oil and gas industry, artificial intelligence is constantly now being used to analyse seismic data, but the experience and expertise of petroleum engineers remains vital for making decision.

Another example is in urban planning, AI can map informal settlements and propose infrastructure improvements, but the localized knowledge of individuals and leaders in the community is indispensable.

For Nigerians, embracing AI starts with understanding its practical implications. Whether it’s using AI to optimise traffic flow in the urban areas through smart ecosystems or adopting AI-driven mobile health apps, the technology is becoming an integral part of our daily life whether we like it or not.

It’s not about being IT savvy but about being open to new ways of solving challenges and improving our livelihoods.

The emergence of artificial intelligence in Nigeria and Africa as a whole goes beyond adopting global trends. It’s about leveraging these emerging innovations to fit our unique needs and aspirations, making it work for us as we navigate our way in this new era is important.

As we harness AI to tackle local challenges, we are not just keeping pace with the world but actively shaping the narrative of how technology can uplift our economies and communities. With the right investments in ethical practices, infrastructure, education and our way of thinking, AI has the potential to be a powerful force for good across the African continent.

Olusoji’s Bio:

Olusoji (Solomon) Adeyemo is an accomplished professional with over 17 years of experience in Presales Engineering Management, Solution Architecture, and Agile Project Management. Currently serving as an Azure Application Innovation & AI Specialist at Microsoft UK, Olusoji has a proven track record of driving technical excellence and delivering high-quality solutions in high-pressure environments. He has held key positions at Wipro, Huawei Technologies, Oracle, and Dell, showcasing his expertise in cloud infrastructure, Application modernization, and Business continuity solutions. Olusoji holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science with distinction from the University of Hertfordshire and Caleb University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Port Harcourt. He is currently enrolled to start his PhD research in Explainable AI and ML in the University of Hertfordshire UK. He is also certified in various cloud and project management technologies, including Microsoft Azure Expert, Google Expert, AWS and Scrum. Beyond his professional endeavors, Olusoji is committed to community service, engaging in private teaching and serving as a community cloud champion and evangelist. He can be reached via email: mastersoji@gmail.com

This move follows the Central Bank of Nigeria’s authorization of these fintech giants to issue payment cards, underscoring the apex bank’s commitment to empowering financial technology companies and advancing financial inclusion across the country.

The partnership allows millions of Carbon and PalmPay customers access to Verve’s extensive payment network, bringing digital payment solutions to previously underserved populations.

Industry observers note that the decision by both fintech companies to align with Verve stems from the payment card’s network-wide reach and a robust infrastructure across Nigeria and beyond.

Last year, Verve marked its 15th anniversary characterized by its outstanding quality, innovativeness and vast array of options; it also announced that it has issued over 70 million cards, establishing itself as a dominant player in Nigeria’s payment ecosystem.

The domestic card scheme’s impressive penetration makes it a natural choice for fintech platforms seeking to rapidly expand their payment offerings while supporting the CBN’s financial inclusion goals.

Other fintech companies that have previously followed this line in issuing Verve cards include Opay and Moniepoint.

As a homegrown card scheme, Verve has continued to innovate its service offerings to compete effectively with international payment networks.

The company has integrated advanced features, including contactless payment technology and enhanced security measures, such as biometric authentication through other sophisticated recognition systems such as fingerprints.

Through collaborations like this, Nigeria’s journey toward a more inclusive financial ecosystem will be shortened, providing more Nigerians with access to modern banking and payment services through the combined technological capabilities of these financial service providers.

CEO Ngozi Dozie revealed this decision in a recent Substack post, attributing it to market saturation and the ongoing foreign exchange challenges in Nigeria. 

In his post, Dozie noted that Nigerians already have access to numerous debit cards from traditional banks, which diminishes the need for another entrant in the market.

“If I had done the analysis and truly evaluated the opportunity, I don’t think I would have been that gung-ho about pushing a strategy to provide consumers with their fifth debit card,” Dozie wrote.

Dozie also noted the operational costs tied to the dollar-denominated card service as a burden. Reflecting on the decision, he acknowledged that some founders, including himself, sometimes make strategic moves without thorough industry analysis. “The decision might have been the same, but perhaps with more respect for the potential risks,” he admitted.

Dozie shared that the move to introduce debit cards was partially driven by a desire to boost customer trust and attract venture capital. However, he now questions the necessity of such a strategy.

“Maybe I had a scoop that if we launched a debit card, customers would trust Carbon more. Because, hey—just like those big banks you trust, I have the same bright, shiny card,” he said.

Dozie pointed to the need for a more analytical and thoughtful approach to business decisions in the fintech industry. He urged other fintech startups considering launching debit cards to thoroughly analyze the market and operational dynamics before proceeding. “Take it as my scoop to you,” he advised.

Despite the challenges, Dozie is positive about the future of Carbon and the fintech sector in Nigeria. He called for a change in how failures and strategic pivots are perceived, asserting that they should be seen as opportunities for learning and growth rather than signs of decline. 

This development comes at a time when other Nigerian fintech companies like Kuda, Moniepoint, and OPay are rolling out debit card services. Notably, these competitors are utilizing Verve cards, a locally issued option that may offer advantages in the current forex climate.

While Carbon positioned its debit card launch in 2021 as a major step towards becoming a full-fledged microfinance bank, the recent decision changes its focus. 

OKash

FairMoney

Carbon

Branch

PalmCredit

Conclusion 

While traditional banks deserve some accolades for digitizing some of their operations, they are still trailing in the aspect of making finance (loans) accessible to customers. The processes involved in accessing a loan from deposit banks are time-consuming and almost impossible. 

However, a digital bank like Carbon, which has been in operation for the last 10 years, has been on the front burner, disrupting and innovating its offerings to Nigerians. 

Accessing Loans from Carbon

Carbon’s major goal is to empower all people with financial access. Its loan process is designed to fit customers’ needs with a low-interest rate.

As a digital lender, it issues funds in an unsecured loan based solely on the borrower’s creditworthiness and promises to repay.

“Access to finance is one of our biggest achievements in the last 10 years,” Chijioke Dozie, Co-founder & CEO of Carbon, said.

“If you look back 10 years ago… If you ask a 22-year-old on the street right now where she can get financing, she will probably know and rattle off a list of all the fintech companies that will give her a loan. Ten years ago, that was not the case.”

Chijioke argued that people who were gainfully employed couldn’t get access to finance at the touch of a button 10 years ago. 

Deposit banks do not believe Nigerians are credit-worthy, but Carbon has assessed about 4 to 5 million people for loans, and Nigerians are paying them back. 

“But I think the fact that we’ve been lending for 10 years is a testimony that Nigerians do pay back if you have good credit processes in place. And that’s something we also found out ourselves. 

The digital bank conducted data collection and analysis from about 5 banks and discovered that most Nigerians who were indebted wanted to pay back but were constrained by the payback modalities. 

Before we started carbon, we started a debt collection business, and when we were dealing with Nigerian debt, we realized a lot of people wanted to pay, but the banks had not set it up so they could easily repay the money back. “

“So, I think, you know, the ease of how people get money today. I think this is one of our legacies, we made it accessible. 

We’ve shown other financial institutions, especially banks, that you know, Nigerians are creditworthy because, you know, we just felt that the situation where banks will take your money, take your salary, keep it and won’t even give you a basic loan. 

“So they trust you enough to take your money, but they don’t trust you enough to give you back to give you something or to give you a loan. We thought that was unacceptable. 

“And when carbon started, we were giving money to people who had never banked with us.​ ​We were the ones giving them the money, not them,”​ ​he said.

Other digital banks give loans to customers, but a striking difference is that Carbon does not send unsolicited messages to the contacts of defaulters—a phenomenon that has been described as an invasion of privacy. 

Focus & Value Propositions 

Being customer-centric is a journey we are on, and we are making sure that all products and services are specifically tailored towards satisfying our customers, Chijioke said. 

“I think for us, you know, we want to distinguish ourselves by being customer-centric, and that’s a long journey. I don’t think any company can say that they have achieved customer centricity. So, for us, it’s a focus.”

Ngozi Dozie, Co-founder & Managing Director at Carbon, believes that there is no traditional bank that offers the types of customer-centric packages it provides to customers. 

“Every month in carbon, every customer that has a current account balance with us will get the interest rate. There is no management fee; there is no fee for anything.

Unlike in other banks, where customers are debited at the end of the month, here every customer is getting their credit. There is no bank right now.” 

According to Dozie, Carbon is doing several things in terms of innovation that put it ahead of its current banking competitors and is poised to do more. 

“When we started, they said customers were never going to pay back. We proved them wrong. They said we couldn’t give loans to customers. They said we couldn’t offer a free payment plan. We proved them wrong.”

He said that as core bankers and revolutionaries, Carbon is constantly looking to push the barriers and make sure that it’s all about the customers. 

If you’ve banked with any of our competitor banks for X years, and they can’t give you an unsecured loan or a free account, then we think something’s wrong.”

Furthermore, on offerings, Dozie said Carbon gives 1% cashback on all debit card payments, even if a customer spends up to 1 ​​million Naira.

“There is no bank right now that allows you to go to a restaurant, use a POS, and spread that payment over six weeks immediately from your app.”

“There’s no bank that tells you that it gives an instant refund. If you send the payment and it fails, you get an instant refund from Carbon.”

There are mixed and contradictory opinions that Nigerians aren’t willing to pay back when they obtain loans from either deposit banks or digital lenders. In most cases, the report says that Nigerians always default. 

During a chat with the media, Chijioke Dozie, Co-founder & CEO, and Ngozi Dozie, Co-founder & Managing Director at Carbon, debunked the narrative and unequivocally stated that Nigerians are taking loans, paying them back, and also saving. 

Carbon is licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and does not send unsolicited messages to the contacts of loan defaulters, a phenomenon that has been described as an invasion of privacy. 

“We have been here in the last 10 years and Nigerians are paying back loans. Yes, there’s always that story of people who don’t pay back,” Chijioke Dozie, Co-founder & CEO, said.

“We raised $15 million in 10 years, paying salaries to over 500 people, and we are still good. Carbon has actually assessed about 4 to 5 million people for loans, and Nigerians are paying them back. Nigerians are taking loans; they are also saving.”

Credit Score 

A credit score is an indicator of a person’s creditworthiness, or their ability to repay debt. It is usually expressed as a number based on the person’s repayment history and credit files across different loan types and credit institutions. 

Before giving out loans to customers, Carbon looks at credit bureaus, machine learning analysis, and bank statement assessments. This process determines if customers have the capacity to pay back loans. 

“As a lender, we assess customers’ willingness to pay and their ability to pay,” Ngozi Dozie said.

“Ability to pay is maybe because you have got enough income or salary.” And the other one is that you have the money but don’t want to pay it back for whatever reason.  

According to Ngozi, the second part of the process is customers’ willingness to pay. And the truth is that there is no way to know whether a customer will pay back until you lend the customer money, and that’s a risk that is prevalent in financial services.

Carbon reports both positive and negative data to credit bureaus and sees it as a critical component due to its checks and balances offerings in the system. 

“If a customer knows that he won’t pay back, then his ability to finance other transactions in the future is going to be impeded.” I will pay it back. And the system works when everybody does what they should. ” 

Loan Defaults and Implications

Carbon believes that Nigerians are paying back loans. However, that does not imply that some Nigerians are not defaulting.  

With the credit bureau reports, some of the defaulters who borrowed money a few years ago are making a U-turn to pay back their loans.

So right now, we have so many cases where people that took loans in 2018, 2017, and 2016 are coming to recover loans they defaulted on because they’ve now gone to Stanbic or GTB to get a mortgage, car loan, etc. 

And then they pulled up their credit bureau report and realized that they had defaulted on loans, so they were coming back to pay their loans 5-7 years later.

Ngozi said there will come a time when someone defaults on a loan, the lender adds it to the credit bureau data and ties it to a BVN. 

In the long run, things like credit cards and mortgage loans are out of your purview because you defaulted in the past. So, I think it’s a developmental thing.”

Chijioke added that defaulting on loans has implications.  “Even if you want to escape Nigeria, every embassy does a credit bureau check. And you can’t tell an embassy that, yes, I can fund my stay in your country when I owe N50,000 in Nigeria. It just won’t happen.”

According to Chijioke, a lot of financial institutions now check credit reports as part of employment schemes. 

“And hopefully, we are going to see a time where any job they’re going to look at your credit report, even when you want to rent a property.”

Future

What Carbon is doing is what is obtainable globally, although the digital lender is in the early stages of the credit bureau ecosystem and believes that in the future a nonchalant approach toward paying back loans will phase out.

The digital lender believes access to credit and quality financial services is a human right, and its mission is to empower everyone with financial access. 

“We want to be that bank that will give an overdraft to an average Nigerian, a credit card to a student, or anyone who wants to start a business with a large amount of money on it.

It began operation as a One Credit, a brick-and-mortar consumer lender focused on the Nigerian market. In 2016 it became a digital lender via its Paylater App and was focused on providing access to consumer credit services, according to a statement.

The business changed its name to Carbon in 2019 and received a microfinance banking license from the Central Bank of Nigeria with the renewed goal of evolving into a fully-functional digital financial service platform that provides loans, cost-effective bill payments, free fund transfers, and high yield savings and investment options.

Co-founder and CEO Chijioke Dozie said, “At Carbon, we are really proud of what we have accomplished, due to our customers and the folks at Carbon. 

When we consider the past ten years and the years to come, we want to place a greater emphasis on the needs of our customers, make sure we are responding to market trends, and transform how Nigerians make payments.

According to Ngozi Dozie, who is also co-founder further “with our newly launched buy now pay later product “Carbon Zero” which gives you the flexibility to shop what you want, when you want, without breaking the bank at a zero per cent interest rate.

‘As humans, time is our most valuable asset and by using Carbon Zero, our customers can be more flexible with their funds and improve their quality of life significantly.”

Originally set up as a lending company, Carbon has established itself as one of the continent’s leading and fastest-growing digital banks, with over a million users across the federation and operations in two African countries.

Having begun operations in 2012 as One Credit, a brick-and-mortar consumer lender focused on the Nigerian market, the company then pivoted in 2016 to become a digital lender via its Paylater App and was focused on providing access to consumer credit services.

With a refreshed intention to develop into a fully-functioning digital financial service platform that offers cost-effective bill payments, free fund transfers, and high yield savings and investments options in addition to loans, the company in 2019 rebranded itself as Carbon and was granted a microfinance banking license by the Central Bank of Nigeria.  

Speaking about the bank’s offering and quest, Chijioke Dozie, the co-founder and CEO noted that “At Carbon, we are very proud of what we have built, thanks to our customers and the humans at Carbon. When we look at the last ten years and the future ahead, we want to focus more on our customer’s needs and ensure we are adapting to the market demands and changing the way Nigerians make payments”.

Ngozi Dozie, who is also co-founder further adds that “with our newly launched buy now pay later product “Carbon Zero” which gives you the flexibility to shop what you want, when you want, without breaking the bank at a 0% interest rate. As humans, time is our most valuable asset and by using Carbon Zero, our customers can be more flexible with their funds and improve their quality of life significantly.” 

ALSO READ: Nigerian Fintech, Carbon, Launches Buy Now Pay Later Web App

A variety of rewards, including free data vouchers, movie tickets, discounts in select stores, and cash rewards, will be offered to customers as part of the Carbon Anniversary, which begins on September 12th, 2022.

“Carbon’s 10th anniversary is a testament to the fact that 10 years is remarkable for a Neo-bank! Celebrating a decade of value and trust. Carbon has been expanding possibilities not only for its clients and partners but also empowering employees all through its commendable journey”, he added.