Economy
Owoafara to Assist Underserved Nigerian SMEs
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigerian startup, Owoafara, has announced plans to help small businesses grow and scale sustainability by connecting them with finance and business services.
The firm, which was founded in January 2019, was launched to solve the access to finance and business support problem of over 50 million underserved small businesses.
Mrs ‘Tale Alimi, who co-founded Owoafara alongside Ms Sally-Ann Ezekiel, said the startup’s first MVP, launched in November 2019, was a credit scoring and fund-matching platform to give small businesses a credit score and match them with financial institutions that would fund them.
“We have over 15 financial institutions signed up on the platform and have been able to facilitate $100,000 in transactions,” she said.
“However, we soon realised that most small businesses do not meet the typical criteria of traditional financial institutions so, the unit economics did not make sense for us to build a sustainable business,” she added.
So, in May this year, the startup launched Rouzo, a debt crowd-funding platform that uses Owoafara’s credit scoring algorithm to verify small businesses and then lend to them directly from money invested on the platform by users. It has also rolled out Suppotr, which helps companies access business services.
The lack of support available to small businesses in Nigeria became evident to the founder when she was running a direct to consumer fashion brand a couple of years ago.
“Sales grew fast, to thousands of dollars in GMV, but I could not get access to loans to expand production and distribution. I later lost the business to a shark investor,” she said.
“Sally-Ann had also worked in financial services previously and tried to pitch financial institutions to adopt the product Owoafara was trying to create. When our efforts were not successful, we joined forces to create this company.”
The startup, which has raised small friends and family funding round and took part in the Labs by ARM accelerator earlier this year, has verified over 450 businesses since it launched Rouzo and is currently growing its major metrics by almost 100 per cent month-on-month.
For now, Owoafara is focused on Lagos, but the founder said it has expansion plans.
“We plan to expand to five major cities within Nigeria in the next 12 months before we start regional expansion out of Nigeria,” she said.
The startup makes money from commission, fees, and the spread it gets between the asset under management and the loans under management.
“Our revenues are growing over 80 per cent month-on-month,” said Mrs Alimi.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The pre-registration training and examination for capital market operators (CMOs) for the second quarter of 2026 has been postponed.
Business Post gathered that the new date for the exercise is now Monday, June 15, 2026.
This information was disclosed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) through a circular on Monday, June 8, 2026.
The Nigerian capital market regulator stated that this postponement has also resulted in the extension of the deadline for registration to Friday, June 12, 2026.
In the notice today, the SEC expressed its regret for the inconvenience this action may cause operators, who had prepared for the initial date of the training and examination.
“Further to the recent circular on Q2 2026 Pre-registration Training and Examination, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hereby informs all eligible applicants for the Q2 2026 Pre-registration Training and Examination that the commencement date has been postponed to Monday, June 15, 2026.
“Registration on the designated portal has also been extended to Friday, June 12, 2026. All other conditions contained in the circular remain unchanged.
“The commission regrets any inconvenience this postponement may cause and appreciates the understanding of all applicants,” the disclosure noted.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
One of the leading healthcare firms in Nigeria, Fidson Healthcare Plc, has listed additional shares on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
The new stocks absorbed into the stock market were 600 million units, raising the total issued and fully paid-up shares of Fidson to 3,000,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each from 2,400,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.
The fresh equities came from the company’s rights issue of 600,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N35.00 per share.
They were issued to existing investors on the basis of one new ordinary share for every existing four ordinary shares held as of the close of business on Wednesday, November 12, 2025.
Confirming the development, the regulator in a notice said, “Trading licence holders are hereby notified that an additional 600,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of Fidson Healthcare Plc were on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange Limited.
“The additional shares arose from the company’s rights issue of 600,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N35.00 per share on the basis of one new ordinary share for every existing four ordinary shares held as at the close of business on Wednesday, November 12, 2025.
“With the listing of the additional 600,000,000 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of Fidson Healthcare Plc have now increased from 2,400,000,000 to 3,000,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.”
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
This news will surely excite local contractors with verified claims of N100 million or less, as the federal government has approved their payments.
This approval for the disbursement was given by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Taiwo Oyedele.
This followed a verification and reconciliation exercise designed to ensure only validated claims qualify for payment.
The beneficiaries cover contractors across multiple ministries, departments and agencies. The release of the funds is expected to enable contractors to return to project sites, pay workers, settle suppliers and meet outstanding financial commitments.
In an announcement on Monday, the Federal Ministry of Finance also said this latest batch of payments would ease liquidity pressure on small businesses and accelerate economic activity nationwide.
It was noted that the payments for verified claims of N100 million below were strategically done to spread economic impact broadly rather than concentrate disbursements among a handful of large firms.
The payments form part of a broader push to clear inherited contractor obligations, with over N700 billion verified in recent months.
“For many beneficiaries, the release of funds represents more than a financial transaction. It provides the certainty needed to sustain operations, preserve jobs, complete ongoing projects, and contribute to economic recovery and growth,” the ministry said in a statement.
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