Through this partnership, Salad Africa will power a first-of-its-kind SME financing program designed to provide eligible Glovo partners with access to working capital – at better rates and more accessible terms than traditional banks.

The goal is to help businesses scale faster, launch new products, and drive increased revenue – all within the Glovo ecosystem.

Qualified partners on the Glovo platform will be able to apply for loans ranging from ₦50,000 to over ₦100 million, with eligibility and credit decisions powered by real-time sales data from the Glovo app.

To qualify, merchants must have been active on Glovo for at least three months and meet the set performance and operational criteria.

This data-driven approach ensures faster, fairer, and more accurate lending decisions.

Once eligible partners are identified, they will receive a notification with Know Your Business (KYB) requirements and application steps.

Upon KYB completion and approval, funds will be disbursed directly, with repayments made seamlessly as a percentage of future sales; processed entirely through the Glovo platform.

Unlike standard financial institutions, this initiative offers loans without the need for collateral, using real-time sales data from the Glovo app to assess eligibility and creditworthiness.

This program falls under the umbrella of Glovo Local, Glovo’s global program dedicated to empowering small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to thrive in the digital economy.

Through Glovo Local, SMEs who make up 90% of shops and restaurants on the Glovo app across 23 countries, get access to tools and support such as marketing, order management, visibility on the platform, training, and seamless financial support.

As the first industry player in Europe, Africa, and Central Asia to support SMEs in this way, Glovo is driving growth, catalyzing local economies, and promoting sustainable, inclusive businesses.

The partnership between Glovo and Salad Africa represents a major step forward in supporting small businesses with the resources they need to grow sustainably and efficiently.

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Commenting on the partnership, Kolawole Adeniyi, head of Commercial, Glovo Nigeria said,

“At Glovo, we’re constantly looking for ways to empower our partners and support their growth journeys. Through this initiative, we’re providing access to much-needed working capital directly within our ecosystem, making it easier and faster for our partners to scale. This partnership with Salad Africa is a game-changer—it ensures our merchants can unlock new opportunities without traditional barriers.”

Chikodi Ukaiwe, chief executive officer at Salad Africa said,

“Supporting local businesses is at the heart of everything we do at Salad, so we’re thrilled to partner with Glovo to provide small and medium sized restaurants with fast, fit for purpose financing to meet growing demand and scale their operations. Embedded finance is unlocking new channels of credit that simply weren’t available before, and we’re proud to be making access to capital more seamless and timely for Glovo’s network of restaurants.”

Glovo is currently the only player in the industry offering this type of financing to SMEs, reinforcing its commitment to being a growth partner for local businesses.

By removing the common roadblocks SMEs face in accessing traditional finance, Glovo and Salad Africa are driving financial inclusion, catalyzing local economies, and supporting the digital transition of businesses across Nigeria.

Since inception, Salad Africa has recorded $1.5M in credit unlocked value and helped about 1,500 SMEs to scale their business operations sustainably.

Salad is on a mission to make financing more accessible for SMBs in Africa.

Meanwhile, 10 contestants in the hackathon session at the fourth edition of the Zenith Tech Fair (#ZenithBankTechfair2024) received a total of N77.5m in prize money.

The winners emerged at the tech fair themed ‘Future Forward 4.0: Embedded Finance, Cybersecurity & Growth Imperatives – The Impact of AI,’ held on Thursday in Lagos.

The prize money was shared among 10 finalists who emerged from the over 1,700 contestants took part in the hackathon.

JumpnPass, emerged as the overall winner to take home the grand prize of N25m in addition to a six-week mentorship and incubation programme designed to help them grow and scale effectively, which will run from December 2024 to February 2025.

The first runner-up was, CreditChek, a credit and verification service provider that leverages AI and open banking to streamline income and credit history verification for financial institutions, won N20m and a mentorship programme, while the second runner-up, Salad Africa, a start-up that offers seamless integration of credit products for digital platforms and software companies, won N15m as well as a mentorship program.

Other finalists including Regxta, CashAfrica, Middleman, Messenger, Pocketfood, Famasi Africa, and Kitovu won N2.5m each.

In her opening remarks at the tech fair, Dr. Adaora Umeoji, the group managing director/CEO of Zenith Bank Plc, expressed her appreciation to the founder/ Chairman, Dr Jim Ovia, for birthing the idea that led to the establishment of the Tech Fair initiative five years ago.

Commenting on the Zecathon, she said,

“This prestigious annual event was created to empower and nurture young fertile minds. We hope to produce the likes of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, and Elon Musk from the Zenith Bank Hackathons in the near future.

According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population are youths which is an economic asset when properly harnessed.

This is part of the reason why Zenith Bank is hosting this event to support the development of technology startups.

Their success not only fosters innovation and growth in Nigeria, but it also plays a vital role in creating employment opportunities for our youth.”

She also stressed the importance of innovation in ensuring strong and enduring institutions.

Umeoji added,

“It is paramount that we adapt and adopt technology to stay ahead of the curve. We have seen various cases of companies that failed because of their lack of innovation. It is quite obvious that when companies fail to innovate, they can easily be displaced, so this is not the time to be orthodox; innovation should be a top priority for us.”