Credit Direct Moves to Tackle SMEs Cash flow Mgt Challenge
Nume Ekeghe
Credit Direct has launched Money Talks, a financial literacy series aimed at tackling what it describes as a critical but often overlooked driver of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) failure in Africa—poor cash flow management.
The initiative, unveiled during Financial Literacy Month, signals a shift in emphasis from access to capital to the more fundamental issue of how businesses manage liquidity. It comes at a time when many Nigerian SMEs, despite strong demand in some sectors, continue to struggle under the weight of rising input costs, currency volatility and tightening consumer spending.
The session featured Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of So Fresh, Olagoke Balogun, who drew on his experience scaling one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing consumer food brands to walk attendees through how money actually moves through a business and why getting it wrong is often what separates companies that grow from those that quietly shut down.
Nigeria’s SME sector is the backbone of the national economy. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), small and medium-sized businesses account for 96 per cent of all enterprises in the country and contribute approximately 48 per cent of Gross Domestic Product
(GDP).
Yet the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) reports that the majority of Nigerian SMEs fail within their first five years of operation, with early-stage financial mismanagement consistently cited as a key contributing factor.
At the centre of that mismanagement is a deceptively simple confusion: the difference between profit and cash. Balogun addressed this directly, drawing from his own experience building So Fresh into one of Nigeria’s most recognised consumer brands.
“The number one reason businesses die, big and small, is lack of money. When cash finishes in a business, the business dies,” he said.
“You have only four ways that money comes into your business. But you have a thousand ways money flies out of your business every single day. That is why the topic of cash flow is a very vital one.”
For business owners without formal financial training, this distinction often goes unexamined until the damage is already done.
The session is consistent with Credit Direct’s broader view that financial inclusion cannot be measured by credit access alone. For embedded finance to deliver lasting value, the people using it need the financial knowledge to make it work for them. Attendees left with a practical cash flow guide and 30-day cash flow planner produced by Credit Direct, designed to help business owners apply the session’s lessons immediately.
The event also comes ahead of the launch of Credit Direct Business, a platform that allows businesses to access the loans they need to scale and also earn interest on their idle cash.
Credit Direct is a leading financial services provider offering accessible, flexible credit solutions to individuals and businesses, helping them meet immediate financial needs and achieve their personal and business goals.