OREANDA-NEWS. November 20, 2012. Renaissance Credit, a leading emerging markets consumer lender, has launched operations in Nigeria, heralding a new era for the country’s consumers and bringing accessible financial products to its rapidly growing middle class.

Renaissance Credit is now issuing cash loans to qualified applicants and accepting retail deposits at its Lagos branch, located at 89 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi. The lender plans to expand its product range to point-of-sale (PoS) loans at Nigerian retail outlets.

“With its impressively expanding middle class, Nigeria is the natural location to launch Renaissance Credit in Africa,” said Stephen Jennings, founder and CEO of Renaissance Group. “Renaissance has been investing in Nigeria since 2006, and the entry of our consumer finance business is an exciting moment: not only will it bring financial freedom to Nigerian consumers, it will also create employment opportunities as we build the Renaissance Credit team in Nigeria.”

The middle class makes up about 23% of the Nigerian population, according to African Development Bank data, and Nigerian consumers carry low consumer debt compared with their peers in developed countries. According to the IMF, Nigeria has one of the 10 highest real income-per-capita growth rates in Sub-Saharan Africa, implying that the average purchasing power of its 160mn-strong population is increasing rapidly.

“The Nigerian middle class is no different to any other in the world,” said Segun Akintemi, CEO of Renaissance Credit Nigeria. “People want access to loans and credit in order to realise their dreams. This aspirational trend is positive for consumers, and for the Nigerian economy.” Akintemi notes that Renaissance Credit’s entry into the Nigerian market will help to professionalise the consumer finance sector, and speed the country’s evolution from a cash-based economy to a transaction-based economy.

Renaissance Credit has more than nine years’ experience in successfully building consumer credit businesses in emerging markets. In Nigeria, the lender will use the Temenos T24 core banking system, as well as software from Experian, a leading global information services company providing data and analytical tools to manage credit risk, prevent fraud and automate decision-making. By coupling its market knowledge with cutting-edge technology, Renaissance Credit will be able to make quick and reliable decisions on consumer applications. In most cases, a decision on whether to issue a loan will take less than 15 minutes.