Economy
Velex Advisory’s Approach to Financial Structuring for Business Growth
Expansion across Africa is often framed as a market opportunity.
New customers, growing adoption, and expanding digital ecosystems continue to attract businesses into multiple African markets. Yet for many companies, growth across the continent becomes difficult to sustain beyond initial entry.
Across African markets, businesses must operate within different tax regimes, currency environments, banking systems, and capital access frameworks. These differences introduce financial complexity that directly impacts how companies manage cash flow, allocate capital, and sustain operations across jurisdictions.
Over time, these issues increase financial risk and slow growth, limiting the ability of emerging growth companies and established businesses alike to scale sustainably.
Financial Advisory as a Strategic Growth Enabler
According to Velex Advisory, managing this complexity requires more than accounting. It requires a structured approach to how financial decisions are made across the business.
“Poor financial management and structure is one of the biggest challenges businesses across Africa face, especially as they expand. In many cases, growth happens faster than the systems supporting it, which then leads to cash flow pressure, inefficiencies across markets, and difficulty sustaining that growth,” says Jonathan Nwanze, Finance Manager, Velex Advisory West Africa.
Businesses, therefore, need structured, strategic financial advisory to help them:
- Align their financial structure and capital structure with the expansion strategy
- Manage capital across multiple jurisdictions, and maintain visibility across revenue and cost centers.
- Prepare for investment, funding, and capital raising
- Ensure compliance without limiting operational flexibility.
This is what enables businesses to move from operating to scaling with clarity, financial flexibility, and control across markets.
How Velex Advisory Structures Finance for Scalable Growth
Financial advisory is one of Velex Advisory’s core service areas, supporting businesses by aligning financial strategy with how they operate and expand across African markets.
Rather than treating finance as a back-office function, the firm works with companies to ensure that financial decisions support business growth, market entry, and long-term sustainability across multiple jurisdictions.
“Scaling across multiple markets requires more than access to capital. It requires discipline in how that capital is structured, deployed, and managed across the business,” says Vadim Mildov, Executive Chairman, Velex Group.
At Velex Advisory, financial advisory is delivered as a structured, hands-on process that connects financial planning with operational and strategic decision-making across the business.
This includes:
i) Tax Advisory
Operating across multiple markets requires careful alignment with different tax regimes.
Velex Advisory supports clients in structuring their operations to ensure tax efficiency while maintaining compliance with local regulations. This includes corporate tax positioning, cross-border tax considerations, and aligning tax structures with revenue flows, business plans, and overall financial goals.
ii) Financial and Investment Analysis
As businesses scale, financial visibility becomes increasingly important.
Velex Advisory provides financial and investment analysis to help businesses assess performance, evaluate growth opportunities, and prepare for investment or expansion. This includes supporting investment readiness, understanding valuation, and identifying financial risks across markets.
iii) Banking Advisory and Assurance
Access to banking infrastructure and financial institutions varies significantly across African markets.
Velex Advisory supports businesses in establishing and managing banking relationships, navigating local financial infrastructure, and aligning capital and liquidity structures with operational needs. This includes guidance on liquidity management, capital planning, and financial systems that support cross-border operations.
Connecting Financial Structure to Business Growth
Financial advisory does not operate in isolation. Velex Advisory also supports businesses across key operational and legal functions that directly impact how companies operate and expand.
“Financial structuring and legal structuring are deeply connected. Decisions around transactions, partnerships, and expansion have direct implications on risk exposure and long-term sustainability,” explains Laura Gacho, Legal Manager, Velex Advisory East Africa.
On the legal side, the firm provides support in licensing and regulatory compliance, intellectual property and data protection, and transaction advisory, including joint ventures, M&A transactions, capital raises, and strategic partnerships.
From a business advisory perspective, Velex Advisory works with clients on business establishment and development, market entry and growth strategy, human resources consulting, and due diligence and valuation support, ensuring that operational, structural, and strategic decisions are aligned from the outset.
By integrating business, legal, and financial advisory services, Velex Advisory supports companies in building structures that are not only compliant but capable of sustaining long-term success and growth across African markets.
As part of the broader Velex Group and working alongside Velex Hub and Velex Investments, the firm connects advisory, investment readiness, and expansion strategy into a single, coordinated approach across markets.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Debt Management Office (DMO) on Monday allotted bonds worth N929.3 billion to investors from the N1.7 trillion bids it received from subscribers.
The exercise, which took place on Monday, July 20, 2026, was oversubscribed by market participants, reflecting the confidence investors have in the government’s ability to redeem the debt instrument on maturity.
On offer for sale for the July auction was N1.2 trillion worth of the FGN bonds, but the DMO allotted below this, despite receiving bids above the offer.
The papers were offered in 10-year, 15-year, and 20-year tenors, at N400 billion each.
For the decade-old note, investors staked N444.47 billion, but the debt office sold N245.73 billion at an 18.34 per cent coupon rate. For the one and a half-decade-old paper, bids valued at N518.00 billion were received by the DMO, with a non-competitive bid of N50.00 billion, with N302.13 billion allotted to investors at 18.40 per cent, and for the two-decade paper, the DMO got competitive bids of N665.19 billion and N381.46 billion was sold to bondholders at 18.35 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Yemi Cardoso, disclosed that Nigeria’s external reserves had risen to $52.5 billion, enough to finance about nine months of imports.
He disclosed this on Tuesday at the end of the 306th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) held in Abuja, where the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) retained the benchmark interest rate at 26.50 per cent as well as the standing facilities corridor at +50/-450 basis points around the MPR.
Similarly, the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) was maintained at 45 per cent for Deposit Money Banks, 16 per cent for Merchant Banks, and 75 per cent for non-Treasury Single Account (TSA) public sector deposits.
Speaking on FX developments, the central banker said at the $52 billion level, the country’s external reserves were significantly above the internationally recommended threshold of three months of import cover.
On the Naira exchange rate, Mr Cardoso said the foreign exchange market had deepened and was now operating on a transparent willing-buyer, willing-seller basis.
He said the apex bank remained committed to maintaining a liquid and functional foreign exchange market, adding that daily market turnover sometimes exceeded $1 billion.
According to him, the long-term stability of the naira would depend on key economic fundamentals, including increased oil exports, foreign direct investment, and improved domestic productivity to reduce dependence on imports.
He also added that the MPC welcomed the federal government’s renewed commitment to stronger policy coordination, particularly collaboration between fiscal and monetary authorities, which he said had helped reduce the impact of the Middle East crisis on the Nigerian economy.
Mr Cardoso said members of the committee also commended efforts to improve crude oil production and urged relevant agencies to intensify reforms in other sectors, including solid minerals, to boost government revenue.
On the regulatory forbearance granted to banks during the COVID-19 period, he reiterated that this had been discontinued because it had served its purpose.
According to him, the policy had “outlived its time” and was no longer necessary in assessing the health of the banking sector.
“Forbearance, we felt, had outlived its time. Many of you will recall this is something that came as a result of COVID. And now we are in 2026; we did not see the reason why that should continue to form part of the analysis of the banking system,” he said.
Mr Cardoso explained that banks had begun recalibrating their portfolios following the end of the policy, leading to a temporary reduction in outstanding risk assets.
He, however, assured that the development was part of a transition towards a stronger and more sustainable credit environment.
“It reflects a transition to a more sustainable and better quality credit environment, which is what we all want. We don’t want unanticipated shocks that come in a boom-and-bust fashion,” he said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its recent positive run by 1.17 per cent on Tuesday, July 21, triggered by appreciation seen in four bellwethers.
Leading the pack was FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which added N12.00 to its value to close at N153.15 per share compared with the previous day’s N141.15 per share. NASD Plc appreciated by N1.90 to N36.00 per unit from N34.10 per unit, Food Concepts Plc improved by 23 Kobo to N2.48 per share from N2.25 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc grew by a marginal 1 Kobo to N15.01 per unit from N15.00 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation of the bourse increased by N30.40 billion to N2.637 trillion from Monday’s N2.606 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) gained 50.70 points to finish at 4,393.97 points, in contrast to the 4,343.27 points it ended a day earlier.
The unlisted securities exchange recorded a price loser yesterday, and it was Geo-Fluids Plc, which shed 1 Kobo to settle at N2.30 per share versus N2.31 per share.
During the trading day, the volume of securities traded by market participants on Tuesday dropped 99.4 per cent to 322,147 units from the previous day’s 52.6 million units, the value of securities dipped by 89.8 per cent to N19.4 million from the preceding session’s N191.2 million, and the number of deals contracted by 3.6 per cent to 27 deals from 28 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units traded for N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 75.4 million units exchanged for N5.3 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.
