Access to liquid capital continues to be a severe headwind for Nigeria’s micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Despite contributing roughly 50% to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and accounting for over 80% of total employment, the vast majority of these businesses remain completely locked out of conventional banking systems due to high interest rates or structural compliance deficits.
To bridge this credit void, Alpha10 Fund Management Limited has launched the Alpha10 Halal Fund. This open-ended, Shari’ah-compliant product is designed to simultaneously serve as a low-barrier wealth creation platform for retail savers and an alternative financing mechanism for real-sector small businesses.
The Mechanics of the Open-Ended Halal Vehicle
The asset management firm has built the fund with highly flexible entry requirements to capture a broad demographic of investors, emphasizing that the ethical, asset-backed nature of Halal finance is suitable for anyone regardless of faith or income level.
The underlying capital will be deployed primarily into secure Sukuk instruments (Islamic bonds) and other high-yielding, non-interest assets. To reassure cautious market participants, the company confirmed that the fund operates under the strict regulatory oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with the United Bank for Africa (UBA) acting as the independent asset custodian to ensure absolute transparency and capital protection.
Dual-Track Financing and the Corporate Advisory Arm
Abigail Utomi, Managing Director and CEO of Alpha10, explained that the fund solves the structural financing problems of MSMEs via a dual direct and indirect track.
However, local capital allocation faces a persistent barrier: many small businesses fail to secure institutional funding because they lack clean bookkeeping, standard corporate governance structures, or bankable business models. To address this, Alpha10’s Chairman of the Board, Chibuzo Ekwekwuo, disclosed that the firm is deploying its specialized investment banking and corporate advisory arm to work directly with onboarded entrepreneurs. The advisory team will help small firms re-engineer their internal management processes, enabling them to meet the strict compliance benchmarks needed to attract institutional-grade private equity.
Scaling the Asset Matrix
The launch marks the beginning of an aggressive five-year growth roadmap for Alpha10. The company currently manages approximately ₦3 billion in assets under management (AUM) and is targeting a massive scale-up to ₦50 billion over the next five years.
The newly minted Halal fund, which commenced operations with an initial base size of ₦500 million, is projected to cross the ₦10 billion threshold within this investment window. Looking long-term, the asset manager disclosed that it is already drafting regulatory frameworks to introduce a dedicated Informal Sector Fund and an ethical Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) to continue expanding financial inclusion into unmapped segments of the Nigerian economy.
