NGX pushes connected financing to help African businesses scale

African businesses need a more connected financing system that can take promising enterprises from early-stage funding to public-market capital, the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group) has said, warning that limited access to growth finance could constrain the emergence of globally competitive companies.

Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NGX Group, Temi Popoola, made the call at the Financial Times Africa Summit 2026 in London, arguing that capital markets must look beyond established companies ready for listing and engage promising businesses much earlier in their development.

Speaking during a panel session titled “Building African Champions – The Investment Case for Scaling SMEs”, Popoola said many businesses required several rounds of financing before they became suitable for public markets, making coordination among different sources of capital critical to their growth.

He said the traditional approach had largely focused on identifying big companies ready to list, rather than building a pipeline of smaller enterprises capable of growing into major businesses.

Under a more connected system, businesses could move from founders’ funds and support from friends and family to venture capital, private equity, institutional investment and, eventually, the public market.

The need for such an approach has become more urgent as private capital offers businesses alternatives to public listings, while several markets face fewer new listings and rising delistings.

Popoola said stronger links between public exchanges and private investors would allow growing companies to access appropriate funding at different stages, while giving early investors clearer opportunities to exit through eventual listings.

He also identified family-owned enterprises as potential growth drivers whose expansion is often constrained by limited access to capital, describing them as “hidden champions” that could make a greater contribution to African economies if given the right financing and support.

Another option, he said, was receivables and invoice financing, which allows businesses to unlock working capital tied up in unpaid invoices and purchase orders from larger corporate customers.

For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), such arrangements can help bridge cash-flow gaps, finance new orders and sustain operations without relying exclusively on conventional bank loans.

In Nigeria, NGX’s Growth Board provides smaller and growth-oriented companies with a route to raise long-term capital through the public market. The Exchange is also working with institutions such as the Bank of Industry to improve investment readiness and familiarise businesses with capital-market financing options.

The broader economic objective is to help enterprises expand production, create jobs, reach new markets and become less dependent on short-term funding.

Popoola’s position places greater responsibility on exchanges and financial institutions to build relationships with businesses before they reach listing size, rather than waiting for mature companies to approach the market.

For Nigeria and other African economies, the ability to connect early-stage funding, growth capital and public-market investment could determine how many promising local businesses become major employers and competitive regional players.

The challenge is to build a financing chain that allows businesses to grow at each stage, while giving investors the confidence and opportunity to support them over the long term.