Nigerian Government has called for partnership with stakeholders in the trade and export businesses to formulate a roadmap with actionable timelines to ensure smooth operation of factoring and forfeiting services in the country. Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Richard Adebayo made the call in Abuja while declaring open the first National Conference on Factoring and Forfeiting Services in Nigeria. Represented by the Director, Commodities and Investment Department of the Ministry, Suleiman Audu, the Minister said Nigeria has the size of market and business volumes to operate the services successfully. While expressing optimism that the smooth operation of factoring and forfeiting services will liberate the financial burden on MSMEs, the Minister urged the National Assembly to expedite action on the speedy passage of the Factoring Bill before the two Chambers. The Executive Director, Nigerian Export Promotion Commission, Olusegun Awolowo said, Factoring in Nigeria has the capacity to unlock over a billion dollar annually in financing for Small and Medium Enterprises. Adding that factoring also gives MSMEs with high quality receivables access to cash-flow and capital that will help maintain and grow their businesses. Some stakeholders took turn to speaking on the importance of factoring and forfeiting to the nation’s economic development. The theme of the first National Conference on Factoring and Forfeiting Services in Nigeria is “Factoring as an alternative instrument for trade finance in Nigeria”.
