Nigerian SMEs run on expensive money or no money, and for a business owner who will not touch riba the menu narrows further. The good news, verified across our August 4, 2026 review: a real non-interest SME finance market now exists, spanning four commercial banks and a thin microfinance layer. The bad news: only one institution in the entire segment publishes its full pricing, so most of the market is a negotiation you enter blind. This guide maps every verifiable option and arms you with the numbers that do exist.
Ready to compare halal options?
The one product you can cost-model from home
The Alternative Bank's AltBiz publishes everything: maximum N5,000,000 per business (capped at 20% of annual turnover), a markup of 15.5% flat per annum, insurance at 3% per annum, a commitment deposit (Hamish) of 20%, and a 24-month maximum tenure with monthly, quarterly, 90-day or 180-day repayment cycles. Funds go strictly to raw materials, stock or equipment, never services, on a we-pay-you-take basis. That published grid makes AltBiz the benchmark every other quote in this market should be tested against, and our full AltBiz review does the effective-cost math, which lands meaningfully above the 15.5% headline once the Hamish and insurance are counted.
The full market map
| Product | Ceiling | Tenor | Published pricing | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AltBank AltBiz | N5m (20% of turnover) | 24 months | 15.5% flat p.a. + 3% insurance + 20% Hamish | Registered trading and light-manufacturing SMEs |
| AltBank AltLease | N20m per obligor | 24 months | 30% p.a. (not flat), 30% Hamish | Equipment, power and vehicle acquisition |
| AltBank SWAY AG | N20m | Per production cycle | 9% p.a., 5% deposit, 2% takaful | Farmers, women and youth agripreneurs |
| TAJBank Murabaha for Traders | N5m (N10m for repeat customers) | 90 days | Margin not published | Fast-turnover traders, collateral-light |
| Jaiz MSME / Working Capital | Not published | Not published | Not published | Established businesses, 1+ year trading |
| Lotus SME Finance | Not published | Murabaha 1 yr (90-day cycles); Ijara 48 months | Not published; zero fees | Profitable SMEs, 1+ year old |
| Lotus Traders Coins | Not published | Per business cycle | Negotiated on risk profile | Market traders in associations |
All terms from institution pages, verified August 4, 2026. The structural common ground: every product finances real goods or assets through Murabaha (cost-plus purchase and resale) or Ijarah (lease), never cash at interest. That is what makes them halal, and it is also a practical discipline: these facilities buy stock, materials and machines, not payroll or debt refinancing.
Matching product to business
- Market trader with fast stock turns: TAJ's Murabaha for Traders is purpose-built, N500,000 to N5 million over 90 days with relaxed collateral, though petroleum, BDC and financial-services businesses are excluded. Lotus Traders Coins competes where you hold six months' market association membership. See the MFT review.
- Registered SME buying stock or a machine under N5 million: AltBiz, for the simple reason that you can verify the price before you walk in.
- Equipment above N5 million: AltLease (to N20 million, published 30% per annum) against Lotus's 48-month Ijara line, whose longer tenor may matter more than its unpublished rate. The full comparison is in our equipment finance guide.
- Working capital for an established business: Jaiz's agency-Murabaha (you source from your own suppliers as the bank's agent) and Lotus's 90-day-cycle SME Murabaha; both unpublished, both negotiable. Details in the Murabaha working capital guide.
- Agribusiness: the strongest corner of the market, with AltBank's published 9% SWAY AG rate and Jaiz's Salam contracts; see the agriculture finance guide.
- Importer or contractor: letters of credit, guarantees and Istisna live on the corporate desks; see the trade finance guide.
The eligibility walls, stated plainly
This market finances going concerns, not ideas. Jaiz wants at least a year of trading, three months on a Jaiz account and six months of statements. Lotus finances only profitable organisations at least a year old. AltBiz wants CAC registration, two years of business existence, twelve months of statements and a personal guarantee backed by an undated cheque, a common but contested practice worth a lawyer's read. AltLease adds three years in the line of business and clean credit reports for every director. Startups and turnarounds are structurally outside the shelf; for them, the honest routes are the microfinance layer, cooperative capital, or genuine equity partnership, which one product family actually offers: Musharakah, covered in our partnership finance guide.
The microfinance layer
Below bank scale sit exactly three CBN-licensed non-interest microfinance banks, Tijarah (Bauchi), I-Care (Kano) and Halal Credit (Katsina), plus Lagos's Al-Barakah, Islamic by practice on a conventional licence. None publishes a rate; all transact face to face; each serves one state. They matter enormously to their communities and barely at all to anyone else's, and the honest assessment of each is in our Islamic microfinance guide.
How to negotiate in a no-price market
Bring AltBank's published numbers to every other bank's desk. A Lotus or Jaiz relationship manager quoting your Murabaha markup knows you cannot see a rate card; showing them a printout of a competitor's 15.5% flat (with its published deposit and insurance) changes the conversation. Demand the same document everywhere: total repayment in naira, every fee, the deposit, the schedule, and the early-settlement policy, in writing. And size honestly: these are short facilities (90 days to 24 months across most of the shelf) matched to trading cycles, not patient capital. A facility whose repayment outruns your stock turn is a trap regardless of its contract. Browse the live shelf in our business financing directory.
Frequently asked questions
My business is not Muslim-owned. Can I still use these products?
Yes. Non-interest banking in Nigeria serves all customers, and the practical draws are universal: fixed obligations that cannot compound, zero-fee postures at Lotus, published grids at AltBank, and structures tied to real goods. The one constraint that binds everyone equally is activity screening: these banks finance halal-permissible goods and businesses, so sectors like conventional alcohol distribution or interest-based money lending are outside the door regardless of the owner's faith.
How fast can an SME actually get financed?
No bank publishes turnaround times, so plan around the structural clocks instead: AltBiz needs one month of TAB corporate relationship before you can even apply; Jaiz wants three months of account history; Lotus and TAJ underwrite from statements you either have or must build. The honest planning assumption is that your first halal facility is a quarter away at best, which argues for opening the account and routing turnover now, before the need is urgent. Working capital crises are exactly when businesses accept bad terms.
What happens if my business cannot repay?
The compliant structures cannot grow the debt: a Murabaha price is fixed and lease arrears are owed rent, not a compounding balance. What they can do is enforce: liens on financed goods (Lotus's Traders Coins), the financed asset itself (AltLease, where the bank still owns it), commitment deposits, personal guarantees, and Nigeria's GSI framework reaching your other accounts. Some banks route late-payment charges to charity rather than income; ask for that policy in writing. The honest takeaway: halal finance is gentler in structure and just as serious in enforcement, so size facilities against your worst realistic quarter.
Compare providers in your state
See side-by-side comparisons of Shariah-compliant products, or let our matcher recommend the best options for your situation.
Is there anything for startups at all?
On the published shelves, essentially no; every product wants trading history. The verifiable adjacent routes: the microfinance layer negotiates face to face and may fund a first inventory cycle; cooperative and association channels (Lotus Traders Coins, AltBank's Social Mobilization) substitute community standing for business history; and Musharakah, where a bank invests as a partner, is theoretically open to strong new ventures that can survive investor-grade scrutiny, realistically at the corporate desks. Our Musharakah guide covers what that pitch requires.