* Firm disburses N55bn to over 120 companies in 9 months, expands invoice-backed financing
Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
The Managing Director of BAS Finance, Adnan Kayode, has mentioned that increasing entry to credit score for Nigerian small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) requires higher threat evaluation and a deeper understanding of companies’ transactions somewhat than an unique reliance on standard collateral.
Kayode mentioned lenders may enhance entry to financing by assessing verifiable invoices, consumers and supply data to find out the reimbursement capability of companies that may in any other case wrestle to safe credit score from conventional banks.
He spoke as BAS Finance emerged SME Lender of the Year on the 2026 BusinessDay Banking and Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards held on October 9 at The Civic Centre, Lagos.
The firm’s sister subsidiary, BAS Capital, additionally received the SME Investment Bank of the Year award, recognising its position in structuring and elevating capital for companies searching for to increase past standard borrowing.
Explaining the corporate’s lending philosophy, in an announcement on Thursday in Abuja, Kayode mentioned the problem going through many companies was not essentially the absence of viable industrial alternatives however the issue of satisfying the necessities via which monetary establishments assess creditworthiness.
“Lending to a small business well is an underwriting problem before it is a capital problem,” he mentioned.
“If you can see the invoice, the buyer and the delivery record, you are not taking the risk the market thinks you are taking. What we have built is the ability to see those things quickly enough for the financing to still be useful.”
BAS Finance mentioned it disbursed N55 billion to greater than 120 companies over 9 months, with a mean transaction measurement of N2 billion and a median disbursement interval of seven days.
The firm focuses on financing companies that fall exterior standard banking standards, significantly via preparations linked to receivables and productive property.
Its method locations emphasis on identifiable industrial transactions and reimbursement sources, providing an alternate for companies whose financing purposes could also be constrained by collateral necessities or prolonged approval processes.
Through Zuvy Technologies, acquired by BAS Group in 2025, BAS Finance has additionally expanded its invoice-backed financing providers to suppliers of enormous company organisations.
The mannequin allows suppliers to hunt financing towards invoices arising from accomplished or verifiable transactions, doubtlessly easing the stress on working capital whereas they await fee from company consumers.
Kayode’s place highlights a broader problem in Nigeria’s SME financing market, the place the price of borrowing is just one of a number of obstacles confronting enterprise homeowners searching for formal credit score.
Lengthy software procedures, collateral necessities and difficulties demonstrating creditworthiness have additionally constrained entry to financing, significantly for enterprises with restricted mounted property however identifiable prospects and industrial transactions.
Estimates of Nigeria’s SME financing hole fluctuate based on the methodology used. However, a determine of roughly N13 trillion was offered on the 2025 Annual Directors Conference of the Chartered Institute of Directors, underscoring the size of the problem.
Micro, small and medium enterprises account for a considerable share of financial exercise and employment, but many proceed to face difficulties acquiring financing suited to their operational wants.
BAS Group’s place is that addressing the problem requires lenders and funding establishments to match financing devices to companies’ circumstances, somewhat than treating each funding request as a traditional mortgage software.
Group Chief Executive Officer, Abdulateef Hussein, mentioned companies required totally different types of capital relying on their actions and levels of improvement.
“The question is not only whether capital exists. It is whether anyone has done the work of matching it to the business in front of them,” Hussein mentioned.
He defined {that a} producer searching for funds to fulfil a confirmed order would possibly require short-term working capital, whereas an organization pursuing an acquisition or main enlargement would possibly want structured development capital.
“Most of what gets called a funding gap is a translation failure,” he added.
The group’s method combines lending with funding banking and capital-raising providers via its subsidiaries.
While BAS Finance offers working capital and transaction-linked financing, BAS Capital advises firms which have outgrown standard lending however stay under the edge that sometimes attracts bigger funding banking establishments.
BAS Capital’s Managing Director, Yinka Adetuberu, mentioned many rising companies wanted monetary establishments prepared to undertake the structuring required to draw institutional and improvement finance traders.
“The companies we work with are not short of ambition or of a market. They are short of someone willing to do the structuring work at their size,” Adetuberu mentioned.
The firm reported closing greater than 25 transactions valued at over N50 billion in 2026.
The recognition of each subsidiaries on the BAFI Awards highlights the 2 financing approaches pursued by the group: offering credit score to companies with identifiable industrial transactions and structuring funding capital for firms searching for to finance their subsequent stage of development.
Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Abuja, BAS Group operates throughout lending, funding banking, wealth and asset administration, insurance coverage and monetary expertise.
Its subsidiaries embody BAS Finance, BAS Capital, BAS Wealth, BAS Financial Services, BAS Technologies, ALLY Healthcare and ALLY Microinsurance.
The group mentioned the most recent recognition marked the second consecutive yr its firms had acquired awards on the BAFI ceremony. BAS Capital was beforehand named Emerging Investment Bank of the Year.
