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By Uche Usim
The federal government is working on a new financing framework that will enable businesses to use verified digital invoices as a basis for accessing affordable working capital.
The initiative, being developed under the National Digital Invoicing and Financial Optimisation Strategy (NDIFS), is designed to address one of the major challenges confronting businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): the long wait for payment after goods and services have been delivered.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, said yesterday that the government wants to move digital invoicing beyond its traditional role of improving tax compliance and turn it into a tool for unlocking productive capital.
Oduwole spoke in Abuja at the inaugural meeting and formal inauguration of the NDIFS Steering Committee, held under the theme, “From Digital Invoice to Productive Capital: Financing Nigeria’s Next Phase of Growth.”
She said businesses could have substantial amounts of money locked up in unpaid invoices, leaving them without the cash needed to buy raw materials, replenish stocks, pay suppliers or take on new orders.
According to her, the proposed system would create a national receivables-finance corridor through which verified invoices could be converted into transparent, regulated and affordable working capital.
The framework is expected to cover SMEs, exporters, manufacturers, agro-processors, fast-moving consumer goods companies and eligible public-sector transactions.
Oduwole explained that when a business supplies goods or services and issues a verified invoice, the receivable could, under an appropriate financing arrangement, become an asset against which the business can obtain funding instead of waiting for the buyer to make payment.
She said the success of the initiative would depend on four critical elements working together: a trusted digital invoicing system, a clear legal framework, financing institutions and an active market involving businesses, anchor buyers, exporters and supplier networks.
“Trusted data without financing will not solve the liquidity problem. Financing without legal certainty will not scale. Technology without interoperability will create new silos,” she said.
The minister said verified invoices and transaction data must therefore be supported by digital systems that can communicate with one another, while laws and regulations must provide certainty over the transfer and enforcement of receivables.
She added that banks, development finance institutions, fintech companies, insurers and guarantors would have important roles to play in providing liquidity and sharing risks, with capital market investors potentially participating as the system matures.
Oduwole stressed that the success of NDIFS should not be judged by the volume of digital invoices generated, but by the amount of economic activity and financing the system creates.
She said the committee would have to monitor the value of verified receivables brought into the system, the amount of financing unlocked, the number of SMEs, exporters and productive suppliers reached, financing costs, turnaround time and repayment performance.
The government will also assess whether the initiative is improving inventory cycles, increasing production, strengthening supplier networks and supporting export growth.
The minister identified five priorities for the committee, including designing an e-invoicing system that supports both revenue collection and business financing, developing interoperable digital platforms, and strengthening data protection and cybersecurity.
She directed the committee to move quickly from policy discussions to actual transactions through a controlled 90-day pilot involving selected exporters, productive value chains and anchor businesses.
The pilot, she said, must have clear and measurable targets, including the value of receivables verified and financed, the number of businesses reached, financing costs, processing time and the impact on production.
Oduwole also directed the NDIFS Secretariat to prepare a delivery dashboard ahead of the committee’s next meeting, showing specific milestones, responsible institutions, deadlines, dependencies, risks and decisions required.
She said every action under the strategy must have an identifiable owner and deadline to prevent the initiative from becoming another policy document without measurable results.
The NDIFS Steering Committee brings together institutions and stakeholders covering revenue administration, monetary and financial infrastructure, securities regulation, industry, trade, insurance, development finance, SMEs and the organised private sector.
The committee is expected to advise on the direction and sequencing of the strategy, review its implementation roadmap, identify necessary policy and regulatory changes, promote coordination among participating institutions, manage delivery risks and support engagement with businesses and other stakeholders.
Oduwole formally inaugurated the committee pursuant to the approval of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
She said the ultimate test of NDIFS would be whether it helps businesses convert money trapped in unpaid invoices into productive capital.
“If we cannot measure the economic outcome, we cannot claim success,” she said.
