Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) Merchant Financing Platform — B2B SME Vertical

Nigeria is experiencing a strong investment rebound in 2025–2026, with combined FPI and FDI reaching nearly $14 billion in the first nine months of 2025 — already surpassing total 2024 inflows — driven by FX liberalisation, fuel subsidy removal, and monetary tightening. FDI rose steadily each quarter, reaching $357.80 million in Q4 2025. The government has secured over $50 billion in facilitated FDI commitments and has appointed Nigeria as co-champion of the AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol alongside Kenya and South Africa. Key regulatory wins include new customs modernisation (AEO Programme, B'Odogwu system, National Single Window), an active UK-Nigeria Enhanced Trade Partnership ministerial dialogue (March 2026), and a $3.5 billion bilateral trade target with Brazil by 2030. A landmark raw shea nut export ban is already redirecting value-chain activity toward domestic processing, and the BNPL/fintech sector continues to attract global partnerships. Nigeria's NGX ranked 5th among the world's top-performing stock exchanges in 2025, underlining broad market momentum.

Nigeria's BNPL market, valued at $2.61 billion in 2025, is expanding rapidly with new global entrants including a Shein-Stori co-branded credit card, signalling accelerating retail-fintech integration that is creating demand for B2B merchant-side financing infrastructure. Nigeria's appointment as AfCFTA co-champion of digital trade (alongside Kenya and South Africa) in 2025 opens regulatory pathways for cross-border embedded finance solutions targeting the 500,000+ MSMEs registered in the national database.

Market drivers:

- Nigeria's BNPL market at $2.61 billion in 2025 with accelerating retailer-fintech partnerships

- Nigeria leads Africa's ICT market at 82% of continental ICT value — deep digital rails already in place

- AfCFTA Digital Trade Protocol co-championship unlocks cross-border BNPL expansion to 54-country market

- Over 500,000 MSMEs newly registered in national database as addressable B2B customer base

Risks:

- High non-performing loan risk in a high-inflation environment could erode BNPL portfolio quality quickly

- Central Bank of Nigeria regulatory tightening on consumer credit and digital lenders remains a live regulatory risk