Norfund has made its first direct equity investment in African fintech through OmniRetail, a Nigerian technology platform that provides small shops in Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire with access to credit, fast product delivery, and digital payment solutions.
“Fintech is an effective tool for increasing access to working capital for small businesses in Africa, which are often underserved by traditional banks,” says Cathrine Conradi, Investment Director at Norfund. “By leveraging technology, companies like Omni can reach and serve their customers at a much lower cost. They use alternative data, such as order history, to assess the creditworthiness of clients who do not have access to bank accounts.”
Building an ecosystem around small shops
OmniRetail has established a digital commerce network connecting more than 150,000 suppliers, distributors, retailers, and logistics partners across 12 cities in Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire. The platform enables digital procurement of everyday goods, including delivery and financing.
The company currently employs 600 people and reached profitability just four years after it was founded.
“We started by providing access to goods — now we’re building an entire financial ecosystem around the shops,”
Deepankar rustagi, CEO at omniretail
Traditional banks often require collateral for loans—something most small shops cannot provide. Many operate without formal accounting, credit scores, or even bank accounts. What they do have, however, are mobile phones and access to “mobile money,” a solution similar to Vipps. OmniRetail enables shops to order, pay for, and receive goods digitally, eliminating the need to close the store to buy inventory at the market. Credit is offered exclusively for product purchases, ensuring that financing is directed solely toward income-generating activities.
Thanks to machine learning–based credit assessments and close customer engagement, the company has a default rate of less than 0.5 percent—significantly lower than that of traditional bank loans to the same target group.
– A targeted solution for financial inclusion
Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is a key market for small businesses. More than 95 percent of the country’s enterprises are small, accounting for over 80 percent of employment and nearly half of GDP. With a population of 240 million expected to surpass 400 million by 2050, Nigeria is set to become the world’s third most populous country.
One in ten small and medium-sized enterprises in Nigeria cite lack of access to financing as their biggest barrier to growth. Fintech can play a crucial role in promoting financial inclusion in markets where capital is expensive and difficult to obtain.
OmniRetail represents a new generation of fintech companies that combine technology and finance to reach small players in the informal market. The company’s model is based on embedded finance—financial services integrated directly into the value chain and the platforms that shops already use.
Reducing risk in challenging markets
Norfund is participating in a USD 20 million investment round and is the first development finance institution to invest in OmniRetail. By coming in early, Norfund helps mobilize private and institutional capital—not only for OmniRetail, but also for the broader segment and region. Increased equity from an investor like Norfund also strengthens the company’s ability to secure local debt financing.
“With Norfund’s support, we can scale more quickly and strengthen the entire retail value chain—through digitalisation and targeted financing that improves the daily lives of our customers,” says Rustagi.
“This is exactly the kind of investment we aim to do more of: targeted, measurable, and firmly rooted in the local context. We strongly believe that fintech will be key to achieving Norfund’s ambition of increasing access to affordable finance in our markets,” says Conradi.