Convenience in lending to micro businesses will shape the future of SMEs-Expert

Temitope Adeoluwa

Economic and financial analyst, Tope Fasua, has said convenience in lending to micro business owners is one of the determining factors that would shape the future of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) banking in Nigeria.

In view of this, he urged banks to develop cutting edge technologies and Fintechs in delivering seamless services to SMEs.

Speaking at the ongoing SME Conference 2019, organised by Businessnewscorp, publishers of business a.m Newspaper, Fasua, who is the founder and Chief Executive Officer, Global Analytics Limited, said the current lending process to SMEs in the country by the financial institutions needed to be addressed with some sense of urgency.

The conference theme, “The Future of SME Banking in Nigeria” is hinged on formulating new models in SME banking to ease access to finance and look into the trends that would emerge in the Nigeria SME banking system.

The analyst noted that financial institutions encounter myriads of challenges such as a change in demographics, ageing population, innovation and technological advancement and other complexities.

He, therefore, urged banking institutions to develop cutting edge technologies that would match with what the Fintechs were currently offering in delivering seamless services to players in the SME ecosystem as he foresees a boom in SME banking in the near future.

“For SME owners to scale their businesses and expand, they must invest in non-financial services such as training, networking, workshops and publication,” he said.

“In an ever-changing financial lending landscape in which the world is going transparent on the financial transaction which will ultimately define SME, players need to reassess their portfolio, prepare for a more digitally oriented future and rebrand their corporate identity,” Fasua advised.