Cascador and Sterling announce $200m SME credit backstop
The announced fund is intended to support up to $1bn in credit capacity, subject to funding and lender decisions.
- Publish date: 2026-10-14
- Category: Standards & Policy
- Original source: Cascador (company press release)
- Reading time: 1 min read
Cascador and Sterling Bank announced a $200m SME Credit Backstop Fund intended to provide a defined credit-risk backstop to finance partners, with a model supporting up to $1bn in outstanding credit capacity. It targets debt-ready Nigerian SMEs; initial local-currency loans equivalent to $250,000 are envisaged, while loans up to $1m depend on full funding and lender approval. Finance partners will independently assess, approve, disburse and service loans, and Cascador says the fund will use AI-powered underwriting. The announcement does not say the full reserve or $1bn capacity has been funded or disbursed.