Kuda Business Flags Structural Gaps Limiting SME Growth At Abuja Food and Drinks Festival

Nigeria’s 39 million SMEs continue to navigate rising costs and operational inefficiencies. Kuda Business highlighted the structural issues limiting small business growth at the African Food and Drinks Festival on November 15 in Abuja, including weak financial records, unreliable payment systems and fragmented processes.

The session, themed “Simplifying Finance and Operations with Kuda Business,” brought together experts from product, brand strategy and sales to offer practical steps food and drink entrepreneurs can take to strengthen operations and become more attractive to lenders and investors.

Senior Product Operations Manager at Kuda, Glory Ajie, outlined the everyday challenges businesses face, including POS reliability, inventory tracking, payroll coordination, daily expense management, and the cost of juggling multiple disconnected tools. She highlighted how vendors receiving orders on platforms like Instagram can streamline their workflow by using features such as fast transfers, virtual POS accounts, inventory management, and invoicing from a single Kuda Business dashboard.

Senior Brand Manager, Kuda, Emmanuel Femi-Adejobi, broke down the major reasons small businesses are often declined for loans. Poor bookkeeping, inconsistent cashflow patterns, missing regulatory documentation, weak credit histories and unclear business plans remain common barriers.

He noted that keeping all transactions within a single business account helps build the transparent financial footprint lenders look for. Tools such as POS terminals, expense trackers and the Business Perks programme support entrepreneurs in lowering operational costs and improving documentation.

Head of Sales, Kuda, Taiwo Fashe, expanded on the operational concerns business owners often raise in their engagements with Kuda’s field teams, particularly cash flow stability.

He explained that using the Kuda POS and business dashboard gives vendors stronger control over revenue by reducing customer wait time, enabling instant settlements and consolidating all orders and inventory in one place.

He added that security features and the ability to move funds easily, including through scheduled payments, help SMEs manage cash reliably during busy periods such as festivals.

Across the panel, speakers reinforced one core message. SMEs cannot scale without structure.

Fashe emphasised that businesses hoping to expand to multiple locations must first organise their finances, especially cash flow. Ajie and Femi-Adejobi stressed the importance of intentionality about the business, knowing your target audience, consistent documentation, separating personal and business finances and building the kind of record that supports funding and long-term growth.