By MOJISOLA SAKA A business owner could win an order and still be unable to fulfill it. The road to the buyer may be impassable after heavy rain. Energy costs may have wiped out any possible margins or make the agreed price unworkable. Payment for the last service delivery may still be outstanding and at least 90 days past its due date. Indeed, the demand for the business service or product is real, but the conditions and enablers to turn such opportunities into growth are not making it “math” up. That is a useful starting point of reflection for Nigeria’s next phase of economic expansion. Growth must become achievable for viable enterprises wherever they operate. When location determines whether a business can reach customers, access finance or deliver profitably, the country leaves productive capacity idle and jobs uncreated. As the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit approaches, its Scale Nigeria sub-theme will seek to tackle this directly: how to spread growth across states, sectors and communities. The harder question will also be “how to make that ambition show up in the everyday decisions of lenders, large companies and state governments”. No doubt, Nigeria’s commercial hubs will remain indispensable. Their concentration of capital, skills and customers supports businesses far beyond their boundaries. The task at hand will be to strengthen their links with the enterprises that supply to them, so that a food processor in a smaller town from Oyo, for example, can build a dependable relationship with a buyer in a major city without transport costs and financing gaps consuming the margin. The consequences of uneven opportunity are already evident. The National Bureau of Statistics’ 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index reported that 72 per cent of rural residents experienced multidimensional poverty, compared with 42 per cent of urban residents. These are historical figures, not a current poverty estimate. They nevertheless show how sharply access to essentials differ across communities, affecting people’s ability to participate in economic activity. Closing such gaps requires us to take local enterprise seriously as a source of production and employment. Lending support would help such businesses become reliable suppliers and competitive employers, with a clear route to customers who will pay for what they produce. However, large companies have a direct role here. Procurement decisions can open markets for smaller firms, but access to a tender is only the beginning. A prospective supplier needs to understand the quality standards, volumes and delivery schedules expected of it. And where capability falls short, practical support with production processes, including record-keeping, can help the business qualify and remain competitive. Payment terms deserve equal attention. A small supplier who waits months for payment is effectively financing its much larger customer. It may have won the contract, yet lack the cash to buy materials for the next order. Prompt payment and clear procedures for resolving invoice disputes should therefore be part of supplier development. Dependable commercial relationships benefit both sides: smaller firms can plan, while buyers gain a more reliable supply base. Finance should follow the pathway the enterprise operates. Working capital for a business with regular orders serves a different purpose from a loan to purchase equipment. The repayment schedule needs to reflect the recognition of how and when the business earns money. A product that disregards this only creates further pressure even where the underlying enterprise is viable. In my experience as a founder in the marketing and communications consultancy sector, the explanation of a product matters alongside its design. As business owners and service providers, we need to understand what our businesses qualify for, what it costs and what repayment requires. Information should be expressed in terms that relate to their operations. A financial product has limited value if it does not serve the purpose of the intended customer or work for the business. Infrastructure remains fundamental to these relationships. In December 2024, the World Bank approved $500 million for Nigeria’s Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project Scale-Up. The project seeks to rehabilitate, upgrade and maintain 6,500 kilometres of rural roads, benefiting around four million rural residents. Those are project targets, rather than evidence of completed delivery. Their commercial importance is clear: a dependable route to market can change what a producer is able to sell, determine how or when and even the cost of doing so. Road investment must also come with maintenance arrangements. Businesses need confidence that access will endure through successive rainy seasons. Sub-national governments should assess infrastructure priorities against the production areas and markets they connect, and make responsibilit
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