Nigeria’s commercial paper market has grown at a pace that would have been difficult to predict two years ago. Issuance volumes reached N143.19bn in February 2026, a 165 per cent increase from N53.96bn in January, according to the WealthBridge Market Intelligence Credit Market Report.
In the first seven months of 2025, new CP listings crossed N1.58tn, more than double the N763.43 billion recorded in the same period in 2024. The surge reflects a shift in how Nigerian companies fund their operations, and in who gets to participate as an investor.
A commercial paper is a short-term, unsecured debt instrument that a company issues to raise working capital, typically for terms of 90 to 270 days. Investors who buy in receive a fixed return at maturity. The instrument is issued at a discount to its face value and redeemed at par at maturity, similar to treasury bills, except that the issuer is a private company rather than the government.
For decades, the CP market in Nigeria was dominated by banks, large manufacturers, and established corporates. Names like Dangote, MTN, Access Bank, and Flour Mills anchored the space. The investor base was just as narrow: pension funds, asset managers, insurance companies, and corporate treasuries.
That landscape has changed recently, as a growing number of non-bank financial companies and fintechs are entering the market as issuers. These companies are driven by the speed and flexibility that commercial paper offers compared with traditional bank lending or long-term bond issuance.
One recent entrant is Sycamore Integrated Solutions Ltd, a lending, investment and Asset management fintech that launched a N20bn commercial paper programme in March 2026. Its Series 1 issuance is a N3bn offer structured across two tranches: a 180-day instrument yielding 24 per cent and a 270-day instrument yielding 25 per cent. DataPro Limited assigned the programme a BBB+ long-term rating and an A2 short-term rating.
What distinguishes Sycamore’s programme from many commercial paper issuances is the retail access point. The company holds a Securities and Exchange Commission investment platform licence that authorises it to offer commercial papers, fixed-yield products, dollar-denominated investments, and equities to retail investors through its mobile application.
That means the instrument is available to individual investors at a minimum of N100,000 through the Sycamore app, alongside the traditional institutional channel through placing agents BAS Capital, AIICO Capital, Norrenberger Advisory Partners, and Pathway Advisors.
The company’s audited financials provide context for the rating. Interest income grew from N115m in 2020 to N6bn in 2025. Profit after tax rose from N1.3m to over N1bn over the same period. Sycamore now serves more than 400,000 users and manages over N20bn in assets across its three verticals: a fintech lending platform, alicensed asset management firm, and a microfinance bank.
Investors in commercial papers need to understand that exposure is entirely to the issuer’s creditworthiness, which credit ratings from agencies like DataPro, Agusto, and GCR assess. A BBB+ rating indicates adequate capacity to meet financial commitments, while an A2 short-term rating indicates satisfactory capacity for timely payment.
The growth of the commercial paper market is opening doors that were previously closed to individual investors. But as access widens, so does the need to understand what you are buying before you commit.
Gbenga Magbagbeola is Managing Director Sycamore Integrated Solutions Ltd
