Pay your overseas supplier on day one.
Trade Lenda advances working capital against your import invoice. Your goods clear port while your bank is still processing paperwork.
The 30-day bank wait costs you more than time.
Every week a shipment sits waiting for LC approval is a week of tied-up supplier relationships, delayed sales, and storage costs you cannot recover.
The 28-day LC average
Nigerian bank letters of credit average 28 days from submission to approval. Four weeks of Apapa demurrage fees, delayed sales cycles, and strained overseas supplier relationships — all while the goods sit.
Repeat document rounds
Banks return incomplete files two, three times. Each round adds days. Our portal pre-screens your documents against NCS Form M requirements before you submit — if something is missing, you know before we do, not after.
Supplier relationship cost
Chinese and UAE suppliers offer 30-day and 60-day credit terms to buyers with a consistent payment record. Delayed LCs put you in the category of buyers who need chasing. Capital on day one builds the payment track record that unlocks better supplier terms over time.
How import invoice finance works
Invoice as the security
We advance capital against your verified commercial invoice. No property collateral, no personal guarantee for qualifying trades. The invoice, bill of lading, and NCS clearance history are what we lend against.
AI pre-screens in minutes
Our model reads your NCS customs history, shipment route risk, and buyer payment record. A structured risk summary is ready before a human underwriter opens the file.
Capital same business day
A Trade Lenda underwriter reviews the AI summary and releases funds to your Nigerian business account. Target turnaround: same business day for qualifying applications received before 2pm WAT. Not 48 hours from next Monday.
Industries we finance
We have underwritten import transactions across these categories. Our model holds transit time data, NCS clearance rate benchmarks, and commodity-level risk history for each. We do not currently finance restricted or prohibited import categories under NCS Schedule 4.
Your next shipment should not wait for a bank.
Apply in minutes. Capital decision in 48 hours. Invoice value ₦5M – ₦500M.