E-Financial
IFC Provides Local Currency Support to Access Bank to Expand SME Lending
To help address financing gaps, strengthen private sector growth, and promote inclusive economic development in Sierra Leone, IFC announced a partnership with Access Bank (Sierra Leone) Ltd (ABSL) to increase access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country, particularly those owned and led by women.
Under the partnership, IFC will provide ABSL an unfunded risk-sharing facility of up to $10 million in local currency equivalent Sierra Leonean Leones, which is expected to support up to $20 million equivalent in new SME loans. ABSL will direct at least 25 percent of the financing to women-owned SMEs as part of its strategy to more than double their share in ABSL’s SME portfolio to over 50 percent within five years.
The risk-sharing facility is part of IFC’s Small Loan Guarantee Program (SLGP), which supports efforts to de-risk and scale up financing for SMEs in fragile and/or low-income markets.
The SLGP benefits from a pooled first loss guarantee of $120 million provided by the International Development Association’s (IDA) Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility (IDA PSW BFF). By providing local currency funding, IFC is helping ABSL hedge against currency fluctuations.
In addition to the facility, IFC will offer advisory support to help ABSL strengthen its operations and internal capacity for SME lending. The partnership also includes a component to provide training to employees at 50 SMEs, including women-led businesses, in financial and business management to enhance their credit readiness and long-term sustainability.
“Through our collaboration with IFC, Access Bank Sierra Leone is unlocking new opportunities for women entrepreneurs, extending access to finance in underserved markets, and strengthening the resilience of local businesses,” said Ganiyu Sanni, Managing Director of Access Bank Sierra Leone. “Together, we are driving inclusive finance and supporting sustainable growth across Sierra Leone.”
“This partnership with Access Bank Sierra Leone demonstrates IFC’s commitment to expanding access to finance in underserved markets and to unlocking the potential of women entrepreneurs,” said Abdu Muwonge, WBG Joint Country Representative for Sierra Leone.
“SMEs are essential to driving job creation, and boosting resilience and growth in Sierra Leone, where they create the vast majority of jobs. With this partnership, we will help many access the financing they need to grow.”
According to the World Bank Group, SMEs, including micro-enterprises, account for nearly 90 percent of Sierra Leone’s private businesses and provide livelihoods for about 70 percent of the population. Yet, access to finance remains a major constraint, with only around 17 percent of these enterprises able to secure formal loans or credit. the financing gap.
IFC’s current investment portfolio is $43.5 million in Sierra Leone, with a focus on agribusiness and financial sector. IFC is actively engaged in energy, telecommunications, and agriculture value-chains. On the advisory side, IFC is working to expand financial inclusion and to strengthen ecosystems across key agricultural value chains.
Federal court in Lagos has suspended the enforcement of Nigeria’s most comprehensive framework for regulating digital lending apps.
On April 15, Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Lagos granted an interim injunction blocking the enforcement of the Digital, Electronic, Online, or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations 2025, better known as the DEON Regulations.
The order followed an urgent ex parte application filed the previous day by the Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPA Nigeria), the industry body representing wireless application service providers operating mainly within the telecoms ecosystem.
The suit targets twelve specific provisions of the text, covering licensing, sanctions, compliance obligations and data-handling rules, according to court documentation published by Lawyard.
Until the next hearing on April 27, 2026, the regulator cannot impose sanctions, enforce compliance directives, or issue new instructions to WASPA members.
The judge also barred the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) from interfering with the ongoing commercial operations of association members.
The case pits two actors whose respective mandates the Nigerian legal framework has never clearly separated.
On one side stands the FCCPC — the federal agency established in 2018 to enforce consumer protection and competition — which gazetted the DEON Regulations on July 21, 2025, under sections 17, 18 and 163 of its founding Act.
In a press statement dated September 3, 2025, Tunji Bello, executive vice chairman, FCCPC, justified the rules by citing “a long history of complaints” involving exploitative practices, data breaches, abusive debt recovery, and harassment.
On the other side, WASPA Nigeria contests the very legitimacy of the FCCPC’s intervention, arguing that services tied to telecoms — airtime credit, data loans, mobile-financing products — fall exclusively under the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the telecoms regulator created by the Nigerian Communications Act of 2003.
In the affidavit deposed by Ayo Stuffman, the association contends that the FCCPC is acting ultra vires and creating a regulatory regime parallel to the NCC’s.
A jurisdictional war that stretches far beyond a procedural dispute
The conflict is not limited to a question of legal boundaries. It strikes at the commercial core of the market: who collects the licensing fees, who sets the operational conditions, who governs the financial products embedded in telecom networks.
Nigeria’s consumer credit stock reached 3.82 trillion naira at the end of December 2024, up 21.27% on September, according to Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) data relayed by The Cable and AFP.
In the fourth quarter of 2024 alone, personal loans disbursed amounted to approximately 470 billion naira.
A growing share flows through mobile applications and telecom-embedded lending products — including MTN’s MoMo Airtime Lending, operated by the country’s largest telecom operator.
If the court validates WASPA’s position, these products fall outside the FCCPC’s scope and come under the sole authority of the NCC, a regulator historically less active on consumer protection issues.
Available data on demand illustrate the social stakes. Between 2021 and 2023, the FCCPC recorded more than 11,000 consumer complaints for harassment, data abuse and unethical debt recovery practices, according to the agency.
The number of lending applications approved by the FCCPC rose from 269 in September 2024 to 408 in March 2025, while 47 apps were delisted and 88 were placed on the watchlist, according to data compiled by AFP and OneSafe.
The DEON Regulations were meant to introduce interest-rate caps, precontractual disclosure obligations, continuous supervision of recovery practices and fines of up to 100 million naira per violation, according to Legit.ng. The compliance deadline was set for January 5, 2026, and the FCCPC had issued written compliance notices to operators with an April 16 deadline, according to WASPA’s affidavit.
It is precisely this enforcement pressure that triggered the legal challenge.
Federal government has said that Nigeria has no plans to seek a loan from the International Monetary Fund’s proposed $50 billion support package for economies hit by the Middle East crisis.
Wale Edun, minister of Finance, who stated this, said that Nigeria’s current reliance on domestic economic reforms and fund mobilisation was working.
Edun gave these insights during the African Finance Ministers’ briefing, on Thursday, at the ongoing IMF/World Bank annual meetings, in Washington, DC.
He noted that for over two years, Nigeria’s investment in economic reforms have begun to yield results, restoring policy credibility and strengthening the country’s resilience against global economic shocks.
Edun told the global west and the rest of the world that Nigeria now prioritises market-based adjustments, avoiding administrative controls, particularly in foreign exchange and petroleum pricing mechanisms.
His assertion follows the disclosure by the IMF that a possible $50 billion support to cushion vulnerable economies against the crisis in the Middle East, was on the pipeline.
Despite clarifying Nigeria’s lack of interest in borrowing, Edun, urged the IMF to ensure faster financial assistance for African countries who will need help from the $50 billion global support package.
“Nigeria has no plans at the moment to approach the IMF or any other such body,” Edun said, emphasising that Nigeria’s reliance on market mechanisms had led to smoother economic adjustments, reduced disruptions and is sustaining the country’s macroeconomic trajectory.
“The IMF talked about $50 billion and we all know that the funding will largely go to Africa, because those are the most vulnerable countries. And the reality is that what we’re asking for in this instance, is that the funds and the support be released quickly and at scale.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in collaboration with financial market dealers, has introduced the Nigerian Overnight Financing Rate (NOFR), a standardized benchmark designed to enhance transparency and strengthen monetary policy transmission.
Olayemi Michael Cardoso, CBN gov
Hakama Sidi Ali, spokesperson of the CBN in a statement on Friday, said that the the NOFR is expected to improve price discovery and transparency, while promoting consistent pricing of money market instruments across Nigeria’s financial system.
The regulator noted that the new benchmark positions Africa’s most populous country alongside leading global reference rates such as SOFR in the United States, SONIA in the United Kingdom, €STR in the Eurozone, and TONA in Japan.
“It also complements African benchmarks such as JIBAR (South Africa). Following a stakeholder engagement session held on February 27, 2026, where market participants formally adopted the benchmark, and subsequent regulatory approval, NOFR is now in use, with the CBN serving as the benchmark administrator.
“The bank will ensure governance, transparency, and regular publication of the rate,” CBN stated.
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