EPS: Empowering Africa’s SMEs through Early Payment and Factoring Innovation

EPS: 
Empowering Africa’s SMEs through Early Payment and Factoring Innovation

Across Africa, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) form the heartbeat of every economy — driving innovation, creating jobs, and contributing nearly half of the continent’s GDP. Yet despite their critical role, access to finance remains one of their greatest challenges. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimates that Africa’s SME funding gap exceeds $331 billion — a staggering figure that reveals continent rich in entrepreneurial energy but starved of liquidity.

The African Cash Flow Challenge

Delayed payments have become a defining barrier to growth across Africa’s value chains. SMEs supply essential goods and services to corporates and governments, yet wait 30 to 120 days to receive payment. These long settlement cycles create a crippling liquidity gap: businesses cannot restock, pay staff, or tender for new contracts.

Traditional bank financing offers little relief. Most institutions require hard collateral, audited financials, and long trading histories — criteria that exclude many high-potential enterprises. Consequently, many SMEs remain profitable on paper but cash-poor in reality, forced to rely on expensive short-term or informal financing to survive.

The EPS Vision: Turning Time into Opportunity

EPS (Early Payment System) was created to bridge this structural funding gap by enabling early settlement 
of verified trade receivables between corporates and their SME suppliers. The initiative aligns finance with productivity — transforming approved invoices into immediate liquidity and accelerating the growth of Africa’s most dynamic businesses.

EPS empowers SMEs to access working capital more efficiently, while allowing corporates to strengthen their supply chains and maintain their cash-flow discipline. By promoting responsible early payment practices, 
EPS is helping to unlock Africa’s most underutilized asset: the value trapped in outstanding invoices.

Why It Matters

For SMEs

EPS represents empowerment. It gives small businesses access to affordable liquidity to fund operations, meet payroll, and deliver on contracts without pledging hard collateral. Each early payment creates stability, builds digital credit history, and enhances long-term bankability — helping entrepreneurs grow beyond survival mode into sustainability.

For Corporates

EPS enables corporates to create resilient, inclusive, and development-aligned supply chains. By providing early payment options to SME partners, companies strengthen business continuity, reduce procurement risks, and contribute directly to Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) outcomes. This strengthens local economies while improving operational efficiency and corporate impact.

For the Economy

Liquidity fuels growth. By injecting capital where it’s needed most — into the productive engine of SMEs — 
EPS contributes to job creation, industrial expansion, and inclusive economic resilience. The cumulative effect 
of early payments across sectors can unlock billions in GDP value and support the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

A Catalyst for Africa’s Factoring Revolution

Globally, factoring and invoice discounting exceed €3.7 trillion annually, yet Africa accounts for just 1% 
of that total. The continent’s vast supply chains — in FMCG, agriculture, mining, logistics, and construction 
— remain underserved by modern liquidity solutions.

EPS is part of a new wave of digital, partnership-driven innovation helping to close this gap. By fostering collaboration between corporates, financiers, and development institutions, EPS advances Africa’s transition toward a data-driven, transparent, and inclusive trade finance ecosystem.

Driving a Continental Impact

Africa’s next growth chapter will not be written through aid but through innovation that liberates local capital. 
EPS stands at the forefront of that movement — proving that when payments flow faster, economies grow stronger.

By bridging the space between delivery and payment, EPS transforms time into liquidity, strengthens business linkages, and powers the next generation of African enterprise.

EPS is more than a financial solution — it’s a growth enabler, a trust builder, and a catalyst for Africa’s transformation.