Zitra Investments Limited has signed off on a N50 billion Commercial Paper Programme, one of the larger short-term debt raises by a non-bank financial group in Nigeria this year. The company announced the plan at a signing ceremony in Lagos, with lead arrangers, issuing houses, solicitors, advisers and Zitra executives in attendance.

The decision comes first: Zitra wants capital, and it wants it from the capital market. A commercial paper (a short-term, unsecured promissory note sold to institutional investors) gives the group funding without diluting shareholders. The money has a clear destination.

Where will the N50 billion go?

According to the company, the proceeds will be deployed across several fronts:

• Deepening capital deployment in Zitra's microfinance bank, which needs greater lending capacity
• Strengthening the working capital base of its asset management company
• Expanding the group's geographical reach
• Deepening transaction volumes
• Accelerating investment in digital infrastructure

Chief Executive Officer Babatunde Obadero said the group's financial services ecosystem required additional capital to support the growing operations of both subsidiaries. The microfinance bank needs deployable capital; the asset management business needs working capital to fund its growth ambitions.

"Accessing capital through the programme will support more geographic spread, better depth in transactions and more work on digital infrastructure," Obadero said.

What do the numbers say about Zitra's growth?

The raise rests on a steep growth curve, and Obadero laid out the figures. Deposits climbed from approximately N1.25 billion in the first nine months of 2021 to more than N30 billion in the corresponding period of 2026, according to the CEO. That is a roughly 24-fold increase over five years.

Revenue followed the same trajectory. It grew from roughly N600 million in the first nine months of 2021 to nearly N4 billion in the first nine months of 2026 — more than a sixfold rise.

Obadero tied that growth directly to customer trust, which he framed as the platform for the market approach.

"Today, our customers have demonstrated tremendous trust in us. They have entrusted us with deposits exceeding N30 billion. This demonstrates the confidence they have in our institution and gives us the platform to approach the capital market and explore further opportunities for growth," he said.

Why does a capital market debut matter?

Suru Daniels, Managing Director of Mullberry Advisory Services Limited, called the programme an important milestone in positioning Zitra as a growing institution with access to capital market funding. In his telling, the listing-adjacent credibility matters as much as the cash.

Participation in the capital market, he said, would enhance the company's profile, strengthen its credibility and open opportunities to engage more meaningfully with other market participants.

"It means Zitra Investments has access to capital and the credibility to trade with and for other market participants. That, in itself, speaks to the quality of the institution and the growing depth and strength of the capital market," Daniels said.

He added that the programme would reinforce the confidence of Zitra's clients and business partners by demonstrating its capacity to operate as a credible counterparty in credit transactions — meaning counterparties can rely on the firm to honour its obligations.

Daniels also read the size as a signal: the N50 billion figure reflects the scale of Zitra's growth ambitions and its plans to expand its presence in the financial services sector.

For a group that multiplied its deposit base more than twentyfold in five years, the commercial paper market is the next test — whether institutional investors will extend the same confidence retail depositors already have.