How Nigerian Exporters Can Fund Trade Deals With Assigned Contracts and SPVs

If you’re sitting on signed export contracts but can’t move goods because your bank wants 100% cash cover, you’re not alone. Exporters across Nigeria are stuck with valid deals they can’t fund. But there’s a way out—and it doesn’t involve waiting on local banks. Private trade finance lets you raise capital using contract assignments, receivables, and SPV structures built around your transaction.

Why Export Contracts Alone Aren’t Enough for Local Banks

Nigerian banks treat export finance like a risk, not an opportunity. Even if you’ve secured a legitimate foreign buyer and can show a full contract with shipment terms, you’ll likely be told to deposit the full LC value upfront. That kills your working capital. It delays your logistics. And in many cases, it ends the deal.

Private capital desks don’t think that way. They care about deal structure, counterparty risk, and verifiable payment flows. If the contract is assignable and the buyer is credible, that deal can get funded.

How Assigned Contracts Work in Private Trade Finance

When you assign a contract, you transfer the right to collect proceeds from the buyer directly to the lender or their trustee. That means the financier doesn’t rely on you to repay them—they get paid directly from the end-buyer once delivery is confirmed. No cash collateral. No local currency exposure. Just a secured exit through verified receivables.

This model is ideal for exporters dealing with established buyers in Europe, the Middle East, or Asia. If the buyer agrees to a direct payment clause or escrow flow, the risk drops—and funding becomes real.

Why SPVs Help Nigerian Exporters Close More Trade Deals

Structured trade finance often uses SPVs (Special Purpose Vehicles) to isolate and secure transactions. Instead of running the deal through your company balance sheet, the transaction flows through a clean SPV—often registered offshore or in a neutral jurisdiction. Contracts, invoices, and receivables are tied to that SPV. Capital gets deployed into it. And the buyer pays into its account.

This protects the lender, speeds up underwriting, and gives your deal a higher chance of approval. Financely sets up and manages these structures—alongside the capital—for qualified export sponsors.

What You Need to Secure Trade Finance With Assigned Receivables

To get private trade finance in Nigeria using assigned contracts or receivables, you’ll need:

- A clean export contract with fixed terms and shipment details
- A buyer that can be verified and agrees to pay directly to a secured account
- Export documentation that matches the contract (PI, invoice, bill of lading)
- A basic company profile, export track record, and deal-level clarity

If you’ve got that—or close to it—we can step in and structure a fundable transaction. You don’t need to have all the answers. We’ll walk you through the structure, the setup, and the capital match.

The Bottom Line for Nigerian Exporters

If you’ve got signed deals but no way to fund them, stop wasting time with lenders who only offer excuses. Trade finance is about structure, not excuses. At Financely, we work with desks that fund export contracts every week using assignments, receivables, and SPVs. If you’re serious about getting capital in the door, start with a deal that can be underwritten—and we’ll take it from there.