Commercial lending — credit extended to businesses — is the largest credit segment by dollar volume in most countries. It comes in distinct flavours, each designed for a specific business need. Matching the right product to the right need is the first decision every relationship banker makes.
Working capital — the cash-flow bridge
Businesses pay suppliers before customers pay them. The gap is working capital: cash tied up in inventory plus receivables minus payables. A business needs financing for this gap, and the size scales with revenue. The matching credit products:
- Revolving credit facility / line of credit: pre-approved limit, draw as needed, pay down when cash comes in. Interest only on outstanding balance. Annual review.
- Overdraft: similar but tied to the business's main current account. Convenient but expensive.
- Invoice discounting / factoring: sell receivables to a financier at a discount; immediate cash, the financier collects from the customer.
- Trade finance — letters of credit, supplier credit, import financing: specifically designed for cross-border commerce.
Term loans — funding longer-life investments
When a business wants to buy equipment, build a warehouse, expand into a new market, it needs longer-term financing. Term loans amortise over 3–10 years (sometimes longer for real estate), typically with fixed monthly or quarterly payments. The cash flows from the new investment should support the debt service.
Syndicated loans — when one bank isn't enough
For larger amounts (typically >$50m), no single bank wants the concentration. A lead arranger (book-runner) structures the loan; participant banks each take a slice. The borrower deals primarily with the agent bank but the credit is held by many. Kenya's mega-deals — the KQ rescue, KenGen capex, SGR financing — were all syndicated.
Project finance — non-recourse lending
Why project finance is its own discipline
In project finance, a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) is created to own a specific project — a power plant, a toll road, a mine. Lenders advance money to the SPV; their only recourse is the SPV's own cash flows (and the project's assets in default). The sponsor's other businesses are insulated. This 'non-recourse' or 'limited-recourse' structure makes project finance fundamentally different — it requires extraordinary diligence on the project's standalone economics because there's no parent balance sheet to fall back on.
Covenants — the lender's early-warning system
Every commercial loan above small-business size has covenants — contractual conditions the borrower must maintain. Financial covenants include leverage ratios (debt / EBITDA), interest coverage (EBITDA / interest), minimum tangible net worth. Operational covenants restrict major decisions: no large acquisitions, no major asset sales, no dividend distributions above a threshold, no additional debt without consent. Information covenants require regular financial reporting.
Covenants matter because they let the lender intervene BEFORE default. If a borrower breaches a leverage covenant, the lender can demand a plan, increase pricing, restrict distributions — all while the borrower is still current on principal and interest. Without covenants, lenders only learn of trouble when payments stop, by which time recovery is far harder.
Exercise
A KES 2bn-revenue Kenyan manufacturer wants to build a KES 800m factory expansion. They have audited statements (profitable, EBITDA KES 350m, existing debt KES 500m). Walk through whether you'd structure this as a syndicated term loan, project finance, or a mix. What covenants would you propose?