In the first half of 2026, Nigeria’s biggest firms reported that 31 percent of their short-term assets were tied up in money owed by customers.
Out of the 30 biggest firms, BusinessDay reviewed 18 firms, which include Dangote Cement, MTN Nigeria, BUA Foods, BUA Cement, Seplat Energy, Aradel Holdings, HBM Nigeria, Transcorp Hotel, Presco Plc, Nigerian Breweries, Nestlé Nigeria, Geregu Power, International Breweries, Transcorp Power, Okomu Oil, Dangote Sugar Refinery, Unilever Nigeria, and Nascon Allied Industries Plc.
Trade receivables represented 31.04 percent of current assets in H1 2026, compared with 25.46 percent in H1 2025.
The calculation is based on trade receivables divided by current assets. The figures show that aggregate receivables increased from N2.68 trillion to N4.83 trillion, an increase of about 80 percent in one year. Current assets, meanwhile, moved from N10.53 trillion to N15.57 trillion, an increase of about 48 percent.
Trade receivables include amounts arising from normal credit sales that have not yet reached their contractual payment dates. The significance of the increase is that a larger share of the companies’ current assets is now dependent on customer payments before it becomes cash available for other uses.
