Moniepoint disbursed more than $700 million in loans to Nigerian Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) over the past year, but the country’s estimated $32.2 billion financing gap remains largely untouched, underscoring the scale of the credit shortage holding back the sector that accounts for most of the country’s jobs.
The fintech disclosed in its 2025 Impact Report that despite extending financing to thousands of businesses, millions of entrepreneurs continue to struggle to access affordable credit because traditional lenders still rely heavily on collateral requirements, lengthy documentation and conventional credit histories.
Read also: Moniepoint bets on talent as Africa’s engineering gap threatens fintech growth
The figures illustrate both the rapid rise of fintech lending and the enormity of Nigeria’s financing challenge. MSMEs account for about 86 percent of employment and contribute roughly half of the country’s nominal gross domestic product, yet businesses, particularly those operating in agriculture and retail, remain significantly underserved by formal financial institutions.
Moniepoint said it has sought to bridge the gap by replacing traditional collateral requirements with transaction-based credit assessments, enabling businesses previously excluded from formal finance to obtain working capital. According to the report, three out of every four merchants who received Moniepoint loans were accessing formal business credit for the first time.
