- Strong investor demand positions Nigerian fintech as a credible participant in the debt capital markets
Sycamore Integrated Solutions Limited has closed its Series 1 Commercial Paper issuance at ₦6.89 billion against a ₦3 billion target, drawing subscriptions at 2.3x the offer size and signalling clear investor confidence in a fintech issuer within Nigeria’s debt capital markets.
The issuance forms part of a ₦20 billion Commercial Paper Programme arranged by BAS Capital Limited, which ran from March 9 to March 20, 2026. Proceeds will be deployed to expand Sycamore’s loan book, providing more accessible credit to growing businesses across Nigeria.
The close comes at a time when investors are shifting deliberately toward fixed-income assets, driven by elevated interest rates, tighter system liquidity, and a more cautious approach to risk.
The Central Bank of Nigeria has maintained a tight monetary stance, with benchmark rates and Treasury bill yields remaining high, reinforcing the attractiveness of short-tenor, yield-accretive instruments.
That shift is visible in the numbers. Commercial paper issuance volumes rose from approximately ₦53.96 billion in January 2026 to ₦143.19 billion in February 2026, reflecting a sharp increase in demand for short-duration debt instruments.
Sycamore entered this market having built significant operational scale. In the 2025 financial year, the Group processed over ₦100 billion in transactions for approximately 400,000 customers across salary loans, business financing, investments, asset portfolios, and multi-currency wallets.
Commenting on the outcome, Babatunde Akin-Moses, Co-Founder and CEO of Sycamore, said the result reflects both the market’s direction and what investors found upon a close examination of Sycamore.
“Investors in this environment are being careful about where they put capital. They want predictable returns. They also want to know that the entity behind the instrument has the governance structures to back that up. Sycamore underwent a rigorous SEC licensing process that examined our risk frameworks and client-protection mechanisms. The subscription levels tell us that when investors did their due diligence on our firm, what they found gave them confidence,” he said.
Yinka Adetuberu, Managing Director of BAS Capital Limited, said the result reflects sustained demand for quality issuances in the market.
“We are seeing consistent demand in the commercial paper market, driven by current interest rate levels and investor preference for short-duration, yield-accretive instruments. This transaction is consistent with that broader trend, and the level of subscription it attracted speaks to the quality of the issuer,” he said.
For Sycamore, the close marks its first foray into the debt capital market. By the measure of subscription demand, it was a confident one.
