Nomba, a financial services company for African businesses, and Synafare, a fintech powering financing for the renewable energy sector, have committed N2 billion to expanding access to capital for small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, adopting solar energy across Nigeria.

The commitment builds on more than a year of collaboration between the two companies. Under the partnership, Nomba lends directly to SMEs acquiring renewable energy equipment, using Synafare’s origination and merchant-vetting network to identify and qualify borrowers. To date, the partnership has disbursed over N500 million to 10 SMEs, helping them acquire solar panels, inverters, and batteries. Every loan disbursed under the programme is currently performing, with a 0 per cent non-performing loan rate and no defaults recorded to date.

Speaking on the development, Chief Executive Officer of Nomba, Yinka Adewale, said: “At Nomba, we’ve built our credit business on a simple principle: lend responsibly, and lend directly, so the value reaches the merchant without unnecessary friction. Our partnership with Synafare has shown what that looks like in one of Nigeria’s most important sectors, solar energy access. Committing N2 billion to scale this model is a statement of confidence in Nigerian SMEs and in what we’ve built together with Synafare.”

Also speaking, CEO of Synafare, Tobi Esho, said: “Every business we work with wants solar power equipment to run and grow their operations, but the upfront cost of solar products is often out of reach. What Nomba’s direct financing has done, through the businesses we originate and vet, is close that gap. This ₦2 billion commitment lets us bring that same impact to a much larger group of Nigerian SMEs.”

The partnership pairs Synafare’s origination network with Nomba’s direct lending capability. Synafare identifies, vets, and pre-qualifies SMEs seeking to acquire solar power, then submits their application and KYC documentation to Nomba, which independently assesses each business and, where approved, disburses a loan directly to them, with loan sizes averaging ₦50 million and reaching up to ₦100 million per merchant. Synafare then manages collection of repayments back to Nomba, combining sector-specific origination expertise with Nomba’s credit infrastructure and balance sheet.

Under the new commitment, the companies are targeting approximately 300 SMEs over 24 months, with loan sizes varying based on each business’s size and needs. For Nomba and Synafare, success will not be measured simply by deploying N2 billion, but by putting that capital into productive assets for a meaningful number of SMEs and seeing those businesses become more productive as a result.