How Data Analytics, Digital Tools Are Expanding Access to Finance in Nigeria

By Salami Adeyinka

Small and medium enterprises’ access finance in Nigeria is experiencing a transformation. These businesses, which contribute nearly half of Nigeria’s GDP according to the National Bureau of Statistics, have historically faced formidable obstacles to formal credit. High collateral demands, limited documentation, economic uncertainty, and fragmented infrastructure have all contributed to a gap that leaves countless entrepreneurs reliant on informal financing or unable to scale their operations. Now, this landscape is beginning to change, driven by a combination of technology, analytical rigor, and a new generation of banking professionals. One of the most prominent among them is Nwenekama Charles-Udeh, an SME portfolio specialist whose work exemplifies how data and digital tools can expand financial access.

The Nigerian economy, projected by the World Bank to grow at 3.2 percent in 2024, is undergoing a period of gradual structural transformation. The government’s emphasis on diversifying revenue sources away from oil has placed SMEs at the center of national economic policy. Yet despite their importance, SMEs have historically received less than 5 percent of formal bank credit. For many entrepreneurs, the challenge is not a lack of ideas or capacity but the opacity of their financial footprints. Many SMEs operate with limited bookkeeping, inconsistent cash-flow records, and little formal recognition, making traditional credit assessments unreliable.

Charles-Udeh has approached this challenge with a combination of discipline and innovation. She believes that data, not intuition, should guide lending decisions. By employing behavioural analytics, sector-specific risk scoring, and digital cash-flow assessment tools, she enables banks to see beyond incomplete financial statements and collateral limitations. Transaction histories, customer distribution, inventory turnover, and seasonal trends are analyzed to create a realistic understanding of an SME’s performance. In doing so, she has expanded credit access to previously excluded businesses and improved repayment rates across the portfolios she manages.

Technology plays a pivotal role in her strategy, yet it is applied with an awareness of Nigeria’s uneven digital readiness. Digital onboarding platforms streamline loan applications, while mobile appraisal systems allow field officers to assess businesses without cumbersome paperwork. These tools reduce approval timelines and extend the reach of banks into underserved regions, including towns and semi-urban areas where traditional banking infrastructure is limited. For monitoring, she leverages analytical dashboards and automated alerts to provide near real-time insights into business health. Such tools allow banks to detect early signs of financial stress, enabling proactive intervention rather than reactive crisis management.

Beyond lending mechanics, Charles-Udeh invests in the human side of financial inclusion. She leads digital literacy and financial management programs designed specifically for SME operators. These initiatives teach entrepreneurs to use bookkeeping software, understand electronic payment systems, interpret simple financial analytics, and maintain proper documentation. By fostering digital competence, she enhances both the creditworthiness and operational resilience of SMEs, demonstrating that inclusive finance is not just about providing loans but about equipping businesses for sustainable growth.

Her management style reflects the rigor of corporate finance. Scenario planning anticipates macroeconomic disruptions, while portfolio diversification mitigates sector concentration risk. Lending models incorporate checks for foreign exchange fluctuations, inflationary pressures, and other market variables. Automated delinquency monitoring systems track early warning signals, and workflow-driven governance ensures consistency in decision-making across teams and branches. During periods of economic turbulence, such as recent subsidy reforms and inflation spikes that reached 21.8 percent in early 2024, these measures have strengthened asset quality and reduced non-performing loans.

Charles-Udeh’s work is also closely aligned with national economic priorities. Nigeria faces an unemployment rate exceeding 30 percent among youth, and SMEs are critical to job creation. Urbanization trends and expanding consumer markets increase the demand for effective SME financing, making the development of smarter, data-driven credit solutions essential. She advocates for AI-based credit scoring to assess thin-file customers, embedded finance partnerships with e-commerce and logistics platforms, and lending products aligned with the cash-flow cycles of specific industries. Predictive analytics and digital identity verification are central to her proposals, offering a pathway to reducing fraud and streamlining documentation processes.

Global best practices, from microfinance in Southeast Asia to fintech-led SME lending in Latin America, inform her strategies, but they are adapted to Nigeria’s unique challenges. The country’s infrastructure deficits, regulatory complexity, and digital divides require context-specific approaches. Charles-Udeh’s combination of analytical precision, technological leverage, and capacity-building for entrepreneurs reflects an understanding that financial inclusion must be both intelligent and humane.
The impact of her work is measurable. SMEs under her guidance experience improved cash-flow management, stronger repayment discipline, and greater confidence in planning for growth. Banks benefit from reduced portfolio volatility and more predictable returns, while the broader economy gains from more resilient enterprises capable of contributing to industrial output and employment. By creating systems that prioritize visibility, accountability, and data-driven decision-making, she bridges the gap between entrepreneurial potential and access to finance.

Nigeria’s SME sector, long constrained by limited formal financing, now has examples of how structured, technology-enabled banking can transform outcomes. Charles-Udeh demonstrates that expansion of access does not require lowering lending standards; it requires smarter systems that understand business realities. Her work suggests a future where banks, fintechs, and entrepreneurs collaborate to create sustainable growth, underpinned by analytics, digital tools, and disciplined oversight.

Professionals like Nwenekama Charles-Udeh illuminate the path forward as Nigeria continues to navigate economic volatility and opportunities. They show that inclusive finance is achievable when innovation, expertise, and technology converge. By enhancing the visibility and creditworthiness of SMEs, they create a more stable, productive, and diversified economic landscape. The story of her work is not just one of individual achievement; it represents a blueprint for the sector and a demonstration that Nigeria’s SME economy can thrive when data, digital tools, and human ingenuity are applied in tandem. In a country where nearly half of GDP and millions of jobs depend on small enterprises, this approach may well define the next chapter of financial inclusion and economic growth.