FG launches NDIFS steering committee to boost SME cash flow via invoice financing
FG inaugurates the Steering Committee for the National Digital Invoicing and Financial Optimisation Strategy (NDIFS), chaired by Minister Jumoke Oduwole, to create a national corridor that turns verified invoices into affordable working capital for SMEs. Approved by President Tinubu, the strategy aims to solve the cash‑conversion trap that slows production, tightens inventories, weakens suppliers and costs export opportunities for small businesses.
The NDIFS envisions a "receivables‑finance corridor" built on four interconnected rails: a trusted digital rail for authentic invoice data, a sound legal rail ensuring assignment and collateral enforceability, a financing rail involving banks, DFIs, fintechs, insurers and guarantors, and a market rail of exporters, manufacturers, agro‑processors, FMCG chains and public‑sector counterparties. Oduwole stressed that none of these rails can work in isolation and outlined a six‑pillar architecture, phased roadmap and the need for disciplined execution with measurable outcomes.
The committee will assess success by the value of verified receivables entering the system, financing unlocked, number of SMEs and suppliers reached, cost and turnaround time of financing, repayment rates, and changes in inventory, production, supplier resilience and export performance. It will also enforce five disciplines: designing e‑invoicing for financeability from the start, building interoperable systems, protecting data and cybersecurity, launching with real transactions, and assigning every action to an owner and a date. A controlled 90‑day pilot pathway involving selected exporters, value chains and anchor businesses is to be developed, with a delivery‑focused dashboard tracking milestones, owners, dates, dependencies, risks and required decisions.
Will this corridor actually unlock affordable, transparent financing for Nigeria’s SMEs, or will implementation gaps keep cash trapped in receivables?