Lidya Nigeria

Lidya is a Nigerian-founded fintech that provides working capital loans to SMEs using alternative data scoring rather than traditional collateral. The company is widely cited as one of the pioneers of African alternative-data SME lending. Lidya expanded into European markets in 2019-2020, an unusual move for an African fintech, reflecting the founders view that the alternative-data underwriting model would work outside Africa as well as inside it. Lidya is mentioned alongside Asante and B2B commerce companies (Wasoko, MaxAB) as a leader in non-asset-backed productive financing in Africa.