For Nigerian businesses navigating the 2026 funding landscape, the shift is undeniable: debt financing is no longer just a fallback option. According to the State of Agtech Investment in Africa 2025 report, equity funding in African agtech has dropped from $328M in 2022 to roughly $80M while non-equity instruments including debt and blended finance now make up the majority of capital deployed across the continent.
Still Morris Consults Limited is one of the businesses leading that shift. This Nigerian agricultural commodity sourcing and trading company secured $200,000 in debt financing from a private credit fund, growth capital that will expand procurement capacity, strengthen supplier networks, and accelerate export operations. And they did it without giving up a single percentage of equity.
Here’s what made their strategy work, and what Nigerian founders can learn from how they did it.
Building a Business Before Building a Pitch
Still Morris didn’t approach investors with projections and potential. They arrived with a proven track record of a business generating a 20% net margin on ₦2.36 billion in revenue.
That kind of performance is built through consistent execution long before a funding conversation begins with disciplined procurement, reliable supplier relationships, and a business model that generates profit at scale.
Many founders approach investors with plans. Still Morris arrived with proof. That difference is everything when seeking debt financing for a Nigerian business. Private credit funds don’t bet on potential, they bet on demonstrated repayment capacity. Still Morris had it in black and white.
Why Debt Financing Was the Right Move for Still Morris
Debt financing is the best choice for Nigerian SMEs and for businesses with an international or export dimension, it’s even more strategic. Equity dilution is permanent. Interest is temporary. For SMEs operating across borders, where transaction cycles are longer and working capital needs are larger, debt gives you the fuel to execute without handing over a slice of everything you’ve built.
Still Morris operates on a simple but powerful cycle: procure agricultural commodities, aggregate from suppliers, and resell to domestic and export markets. The faster they can turn capital through that cycle, the more revenue they generate. For a business actively building export trading relationships, the ability to move quickly on procurement without waiting for equity rounds to close is a competitive advantage in itself. Giving up equity for that kind of operational capital would have been a long-term cost disguised as a short-term solution.
Private credit investors understood the model and funded it. The $200,000 in growth capital provides the runway to increase procurement volumes and expand domestic and export operations without surrendering any ownership. For capital-intensive agribusinesses in Nigeria looking to scale, that’s a structurally sound decision.
In a funding environment where equity is increasingly scarce and expensive, knowing how to raise debt financing in Nigeria and building a business that can attract it, is becoming one of the most valuable skills a founder can have.
How Still Morris Made the Case to a Private Credit Fund
Private credit funds are disciplined lenders. They need to see that a business can service debt, maintain margins under pressure, and deploy capital efficiently. Still Morris’s investor memorandum made that case without ambiguity.
Their pitch rested on four clear pillars:
Financial credibility. With a gross margin of approximately 21% and a net margin of around 20% in 2024, Still Morris demonstrated a business that doesn’t just generate revenue but generates profit at scale. Lenders can work with those numbers.
Strong credit profile and company structure. Beyond the financials, Still Morris came to the table with a clean company structure, good credit standing, and proper documentation. The kind of operational discipline that gives debt investors confidence that capital will be managed and repaid responsibly. Many businesses have revenue; fewer have the governance and structure that serious lenders require.
Finding an investor who understood the business. This is where many commodity trading businesses get stuck. Most investors see the sector as opaque, complex procurement cycles, margin spreads, and supply chain dynamics that don’t fit the standard startup narrative. Still Morris’s breakthrough came when they found a private credit fund that genuinely understood how agricultural commodity trading works: how capital moves through the cycle, where the margin is made, and why the business is fundamentally low-risk when run with discipline. The right investor isn’t just one with capital rather it’s one who understands your model well enough to back it with conviction.
A specific, disciplined use of funds. Rather than vague commitments, Still Morris presented a structured deployment plan. Strong investor-ready documentation was central to this raise. The investor memorandum told the story clearly, backed every claim with audited financial performance, and gave the private credit fund everything it needed to make a confident decision. A good pitch doesn’t make investors guess. Still Morris gave the fund no reason to hesitate.
What Nigerian Founders Can Learn From Still Morris’s Funding Strategy
Still Morris didn’t stumble into $200,000 in debt financing. They earned it by running a profitable, well-documented business and presenting it in a way that resonated with a private credit investor’s specific criteria.
If you’re building toward a similar outcome, here’s what their approach teaches:
- Let your financials do the talking. Consistent revenue growth and demonstrated profitability are more persuasive than any pitch deck. Build the business before building the raise.
- Match your capital type to your business model. Debt financing for working capital-driven businesses like commodity trading makes structural sense. Know what kind of money you’re raising before you start raising it.
- Make the use of funds specific and logical. Debt investors need to see that you’ve thought carefully about deployment not just acquisition.
- Find investors who understand your business model. Not every investor is the right investor. For commodity trading businesses, the breakthrough comes when you find a capital partner who understands how your model works, not one you have to convince from first principles every time.
- Invest in your investor documentation. A well-structured investor memorandum is not just a document, it’s how you convince a private credit fund that your business deserves their capital.
You don’t need a VC term sheet to grow. Still Morris’s raise shows that the right business fundamentals, the right capital structure, and investor-ready documentation can unlock meaningful growth entirely on your terms.
Conclusion
At Halisi Consults, we helped Still Morris build the investor memorandum that made this raise possible. A clear, credible document that gave a private credit fund exactly what it needed to commit $200,000 in growth capital to an African agribusiness.
If you’re running a profitable business and growth is being held back by working capital constraints, we can help you tell that story the right way and position you to attract the right kind of non-dilutive funding.