Nigeria is currently facing a huge credit gap, which has stymied economic growth and stunted business performance, the Chief Executive Officer of Smallsmall, Tunde Balogun has observed.
However, he said the credit gap can be bridged through the adoption of an instalmental payment system for purchase of good items and services.
Balogun spoke with newsmen during the Smallsmall fair organised by the firm, which attracted over 100 vendors and 3000 attendees.
The fair, which would be an annual event, also featured the launch of an app called FairApp where people can shop and pay later with flexible payment plans.
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Daily Trust reports that many people who attended the fair had the option of buying any item in instalments with flexible payment options.
With Nigeria having over N64 trillion credit gap according to a recent study by RiskSeal, Balogun stated that an effective instalment system would bridge the credit gap on one hand and on the other hand and boost the financial performance of businesses.
According to him, the introduction of the fair is his own way of devising solutions to the multifaceted challenges facing Nigeria.
“There are so many things that are wrong with Nigeria at the moment but it is still our country and we need to salvage it,” he said.
According to him, any business that is not doing well or getting the right patronage can adopt the instalment option to grow the customer base.
“There’s so much concern in this country about people having access to credit and thereabout. The solution, we believe is to engage people in instalments. Any business that is doing anything, instalment is one way to grow your customer base and grow your revenue. We’ve done it in the rental space, we’ve done it in the home ownership space.
“Now we have a new product called the FairApp. With this product, we have taken all the lessons we have learned all these years building rent, building buy small small into the FairApp whereby businesses can come and have a safe marketplace to engage Nigerians, bring their products and services on this platform and be able to allow people pay monthly or pay instalmental for it.
“You decide or the sellers decide how they want to be paid or when they want to be paid. So, we have made it very user friendly for vendors, for sellers and all of that.”
He disclosed that the company has partnered with logistics companies, finance companies, identity verification companies to support the initiative.
One of the partners, CargoPlus, said the fair was an opportunity for businesses to interact and explore areas of collaboration.
Co-Founder of CargoPlus, Kikeloma Fola-Ogunniya said, “I am also excited about the fact that it is smallsmall, for services and products that you buy because sometimes you might not have the bulk money or you might have bulk money but you have different needs. So, being able to arrange your finance in such a way that you can pay in instalment is a necessity.”
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