Ascensia MD Ezeamii: We’ve laid a solid foundation in one year

Ascensia Managing Director, Jude Ezeamii, says the company has entrenched itself in Nigeria’s financial services space one year into operations, crediting a growing digital footprint and customer goodwill for its growth in a difficult economic climate.

Ascensia Finance Company Limited, is a CBN-licensed company delivering practical and innovative finance solutions to individuals, SMEs, merchants and growing businesses.

Speaking at its first anniversary Business Dinner, Ezeamii said the period had helped the firm build accessibility for customers despite tough market conditions.

“We all know what the economic environment is like, what it’s been like. So, for us, this one year has helped us to entrench ourselves,” he said. “Part of our promise is to make us accessible to customers.”

He said the company had expanded its digital offerings, including a mobile app, to serve customers across platforms.

On the firm’s growth to over 300 customers and assets exceeding ₦1 billion within the year, Ezeamii attributed the milestone to word-of-mouth goodwill and a motivated workforce.

“When you treat one customer right, he goes to tell the other customer,” he said. “The systems we have put in place and our people [are behind our success].”

On financing for businesses, a persistent challenge for operators in the sector, Ezeamii said Ascensia’s lending decisions were anchored on cash flow and the purpose of a loan request.

“If you focus on the cash flow, if you focus on the business, if you focus on the purpose of the loan, it will be difficult for you to get it wrong,” he said. “You will only finance businesses with proven cash flow.”

Looking ahead, Ezeamii said Ascensia planned to deepen its footprint across Nigeria over the next five years, expand into digital finance, and grow its customer base and capital partnerships.

“We want to be able to tap into the digital finance that is revolutionising [the sector],” he said. “We want to also be able to increase our customer strength, increase our capital partnership, and lay a solid foundation within Nigeria’s financial landscape.”

Chief Investment Officer, Abuja Investment Company, Dr. Abiodun Akanbi harped on the need for clinical assessment and lending discipline, arguing that both require a holistic view of a person’s history rather than a single data point.

He called for stronger institutional reporting mechanisms, noting that gaps in available information allow both patients and borrowers to evade accountability, insisting that there is a “need to address defaults.”

Also speaking, a representative of the Nigeria Credit Guarantee Company (NCGC), Zainab Ibrahim, addressed the role of credit infrastructure and risk-sharing in expanding lending to MSMEs.

She described NCGC’s mandate as sharing credit risk with financiers so that lenders can extend credit to businesses that lack conventional collateral, positioning risk-sharing instruments as a practical bridge between banks and underserved borrowers.