Ugochukwu Obi
Introduction
In many emerging markets, businesses face a familiar struggle: cash is always tight. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which form the backbone of these economies, often find themselves caught between customers who delay payments and banks that offer only expensive credit lines. For a distributor in Nigeria, for example, this might mean waiting sixty (60) to ninety (90) days for payments from a large company while still needing to pay staff, rent, and suppliers in real time. The gap between money in and money out creates enormous strain.