Shenbanjo: Access to Capital Determines Business Success

Wole Shenbanjo, is an entrepreneur and financial services executive and the Group CEO of Shenbee Investments. He has interests spanning financial services, investment markets and travel management, and is the founder of Saturn Credit Limited, a financial services company focused on providing credit solutions to individuals and businesses. In this interview with Chinedu Eze, he discusses the evolving credit landscape in Nigeria, the challenges facing businesses and borrowers, and his vision for building Saturn Credit

How would you describe the current state of access to credit in Nigeria, particularly for individuals and SMEs, and what are the biggest barriers preventing more Nigerians from accessing formal financing?

I think access to credit in Nigeria remains a significant challenge, particularly for individuals and small and medium-sized businesses.

There is credit available in the market, but the question is whether the right financing is reaching the right people at the right time and on terms that make sense.

For many individuals and SMEs, the barriers include documentation requirements, the time it takes to process applications, the cost of borrowing and, in some cases, the difficulty of demonstrating creditworthiness within traditional lending structures.

For SMEs in particular, there can be a significant gap between the opportunity they have and the capital available to execute it.

A business may have a genuine contract or a viable opportunity but still struggle to access the working capital required to deliver.

I think the opportunity for the industry is to make credit more accessible without becoming less disciplined about risk.

The answer isn’t simply to lend more money. It’s to make better credit available to more people.

How have inflation, interest rates, exchange-rate pressures and the broader economic environment changed the way Nigerian businesses and individuals approach borrowing and financing?

The current environment has made both businesses and individuals much more conscious of how they use capital.

When the cost of doing business rises, every naira has to work harder. Businesses are therefore looking much more carefully at cash flow, working capital and the cost of financing.

For individuals, affordability and repayment capacity have also become much more important considerations.

I think the current environment has reinforced an important principle: borrowing has to make economic sense.

Credit should ideally help an individual or business achieve something productive — whether that’s managing a cash-flow requirement, acquiring an asset or taking advantage of a genuine business opportunity.

It also means lenders have to be more disciplined. You cannot look at lending simply from the perspective of how much you can disburse. You have to consider the customer’s ability to repay and the underlying economics of the transaction.

The current environment has made that discipline even more important.

Why does access to affordable and responsible credit remain critical to the survival and growth of Nigerian SMEs, and what are the consequences when viable businesses cannot obtain financing?

SMEs are a very important part of the Nigerian economy, and access to capital can determine whether a business is able to take advantage of an opportunity or not.

Imagine a company that has secured an order but needs working capital to fulfil it. The business may be fundamentally sound, but without access to financing, that opportunity could disappear.

The same applies to purchasing equipment, expanding capacity or managing temporary cash-flow pressures.

The consequences go beyond the individual business. When viable businesses cannot access capital, they may not be able to grow, employ more people or participate fully in economic activity. But I would stress the word responsible.

We shouldn’t create a culture where the answer to every financial challenge is simply to borrow.

The objective should be to create a credit system where viable individuals and businesses can access appropriate financing, while lenders maintain the discipline to ensure that the financing is sustainable.

What needs to change within Nigeria’s lending industry to make the credit process more accessible, transparent and customer-friendly while still protecting lenders against excessive risk?

I think we need to improve the entire customer journey.

Customers should be able to understand what they are applying for, what information is required, how decisions are made and what their obligations will be. At the same time, lenders need to strengthen the way they assess risk.

These two things don’t have to conflict.

Technology and better data can help lenders make faster and potentially better-informed decisions, while strong underwriting and portfolio monitoring protect the institution.

I also think the industry needs to become more customer-centric.

When somebody approaches a financial institution for credit, there is usually a real reason behind that request. Understanding that need is important.

For me, the ideal lending institution is one that is accessible enough for customers to engage with, transparent enough for them to trust, and disciplined enough to protect the integrity of its balance sheet.

Technology, alternative data and digital financial services are reshaping lending globally. How can Nigerian lenders use these tools to improve credit assessment and expand access without compromising responsible lending and consumer protection?

Technology can significantly improve the way we deliver financial services.

It can make applications faster, reduce unnecessary paperwork, improve data collection and help institutions make more informed decisions.

Data is particularly important because traditional measures of creditworthiness don’t always tell the full story about an individual or business.

However, technology should be viewed as an enabler, not a substitute for judgement.

We still need strong credit policies, appropriate risk controls and a proper understanding of the customer.

And there has to be transparency around how customer information is used.

The goal should be to use technology to improve access and decision-making, not to remove responsibility from the lender.

I think the institutions that get that balance right will be in a strong position as the Nigerian financial services industry evolves.

You recently launched Saturn Credit. What specific gap in Nigeria’s lending market did you identify, and how is Saturn’s approach designed to address some of the challenges borrowers currently face?

The thinking behind Saturn came from seeing a fairly simple problem: there are many individuals and businesses with legitimate financing needs, but accessing appropriate credit isn’t always as straightforward as it should be.

I’ve been an entrepreneur for a number of years, and through building businesses such as Shenbee Travels, I’ve seen first-hand how important access to capital and effective cash-flow management can be to a growing business.

When you’re running a business, opportunities don’t always arrive when your cash flow is at its strongest. Sometimes a business doesn’t need a huge amount of money. It may simply need the right financing at the right time to execute an opportunity or manage a temporary cash-flow requirement.

That experience, together with my exposure to financial markets, made the credit space particularly interesting to me.

So, with Saturn, we’re looking at how we can make the financing experience more accessible, responsive and straightforward, while still being very disciplined about credit risk.

We don’t want to build a business around simply pushing money out.

We want to build a business around understanding the customer, understanding the risk and providing appropriate financing.

That’s the foundation we’re trying to establish.

Given the risks associated with lending in today’s economic environment, how does Saturn Credit balance expanding access to finance with responsible lending, effective risk management and the ability of customers to repay?

For me, this is one of the most important questions about building Saturn.

Growth is important, but quality growth is more important than growth for its own sake.

Having built and operated businesses myself, I understand that growth and cash flow don’t always move at the same pace. That experience informs how I think about credit.

We have to understand who we’re lending to, why they need the financing and whether there is a reasonable basis for repayment.

That means having the right people, processes, credit assessment and monitoring systems in place.

We also have to recognise that lending is inherently a risk business. What matters is having the discipline and systems to manage that risk properly.

Our ambition is therefore not to build the largest loan book as quickly as possible.

It is to build a healthy, sustainable credit business.

If we can expand access to financing while maintaining good credit quality and treating customers fairly, then I believe we are building something that can last.

Looking ahead, what role do you believe indigenous Nigerian financial institutions can play in deepening access to credit, and what would you like Saturn Credit to contribute to Nigeria’s financial ecosystem over the next five to 10 years?

I think indigenous financial institutions have a very important role to play because we understand the market that we operate in.

My own entrepreneurial journey has taken me across different sectors. Through Shenbee, we’ve built businesses in areas including travel management and financial services, and that experience has reinforced my belief that Nigerian businesses need institutions that understand the realities of operating in this market.

Nigeria has a very entrepreneurial population, but the financial needs of Nigerians are not always identical to those of other markets.

There is an opportunity for local institutions to develop financial solutions that are relevant to our realities, while maintaining strong standards of governance, risk management and customer protection.

For Saturn, we’re starting with credit, but the long-term ambition is bigger than simply being a lender.

Over the next five to ten years, I’d like Saturn to develop into a respected Nigerian financial institution with a strong reputation for responsible financing and excellent customer experience. We want to build progressively and earn the right to expand. Ultimately, I would like people to look at Saturn and say: “This is an institution that understands its customers, manages its risks properly and can be trusted with their financial needs.” That’s the kind of institution I’m interested in building.