Design the Patient Capital Product That Nigerian Manufacturers Actually Need

Manufacturing requires long-term capital — equipment takes 5 to 10 years to depreciate, factory facilities take 20 years. Nigerian bank financing is structurally incompatible with these timeframes: the longest term loans available to SME manufacturers are typically 3 to 5 years at interest rates of 20 to 28%. The result is that manufacturers are permanently undercapitalised, cannot invest in productivity-improving equipment, and cannot compete with imported goods produced on cheaper, longer-term capital. Your challenge is to design a patient capital product for Nigerian SME manufacturers with annual revenue between ₦50 million and ₦500 million. It must have a minimum tenure of 7 years, price interest below 12% annually, require only a fixed asset charge (not personal guarantees), and be fundable through instruments available to impact investors and development finance institutions. Submit a financial product design document (max 12 pages) including: the product structure, interest rate design and funding source, security and covenant structure, credit assessment methodology for manufacturers, default management, the DFI or impact investor engagement strategy, and a plan to deploy ₦5 billion to 50 manufacturers in 24 months. Judging criteria: 40% financial product design and rate achievability, 30% credit assessment model, 20% DFI/impact investor engagement, 10% deployment plan.