The verdict in three sentences
A London-based bank or specialist lender financing SMEs in Togo and the wider WAEMU region loses most of its time collecting documents and chasing approvals, not analysing credit. A custom loan origination platform with a borrower portal, scoring on SYSCOHADA financial statements, a 4-level approval workflow and a full audit trail brings the average decision time from 6 weeks to roughly 10 days. Kolonell builds this kind of application in the 2,500,000 to 15,000,000+ FCFA (3,810 to 22,870+ EUR) range depending on complexity, far below enterprise origination suites.
Where the six weeks go today
Picture a lender headquartered in the City of London with a deal team covering Lomé, Abidjan and Dakar. Applications arrive by email, files sit in shared drives, analysts re-key balance sheets prepared under the OHADA accounting standard, and the credit committee meets fortnightly. Measuring that pipeline comes before any tooling decision.
| Pipeline stage | Current duration (2026 estimate) | Target with platform | Main lever |
|---|---|---|---|
| Document collection (accounts, by-laws, bank statements) | 12 to 15 days | 3 days | Upload portal with checklist |
| Re-keying and completeness check | 3 to 4 days | 0.5 day | Structured forms, mandatory fields |
| Financial analysis and scoring | 5 to 6 days | 2 days | SYSCOHADA import, computed ratios |
| Level 1 and 2 approval (deal team, regional head) | 6 to 8 days | 2 days | Alerts, visible SLAs per stage |
| Credit committee (levels 3 and 4) | 7 to 10 days | 2 days | Auto-generated credit memo, logged votes |
| Borrower notification | 2 days | 0.5 day | Automatic message and PDF offer letter |
| Total | 35 to 45 days | about 10 days |
More than half the delay happens before analysis even starts. A portal where the borrower uploads files, sees what is missing and gets automatic reminders removes about two weeks on its own.
What the platform must include
A useful origination tool is not a generic CRM. It has to encode your credit policy and satisfy both your UK regulator's expectations on governance and the local requirements of the markets you lend into.
- Borrower portal: account creation, document upload, progress tracking, secure messaging with the relationship manager, available in French for West African clients.
- Scoring engine: import of revised SYSCOHADA statements, ratio calculation (equity ratio, debt service capacity, working capital in days of sales), scorecard configurable by the risk team.
- 4-level workflow: delegated authority thresholds by amount, escalation rules, per-level SLAs, reasoned declines.
- Full audit trail: who approved what, when and with which comment, ready for internal audit and regulatory review.
- Dashboard: pipeline by stage, average decision time, approval rate, exposure by sector and country.
- Integrations: export to the loan management system, FX conversion for GBP reporting, offer letter generation.
Comparing delivery options
| Option | Upfront cost (2026 order of magnitude) | Time to production | Fit with your credit policy | Vendor lock-in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprise loan origination suite | GBP 100,000 to 300,000 | 9 to 18 months | Configuration within limits, custom work billed | High |
| SaaS origination platform | GBP 20,000 to 60,000 per year | 3 to 6 months | Standard workflows, weak SYSCOHADA support | High |
| In-house build by your IT team | GBP 150,000+ in staff cost | 12 months or more | Full | Low, but heavy IT load |
| UK development agency | GBP 80,000 to 200,000 | 6 to 9 months | Full, limited OHADA expertise | Medium |
| Kolonell, medium custom application | 4,000,000 to 7,000,000 FCFA (6,100 to 10,670 EUR) | 3 to 5 months | Full | Low, code and data handed over |
| Kolonell, complex custom application | 7,000,000 to 15,000,000+ FCFA (10,670 to 22,870+ EUR) | 5 to 7 months | Full, with core system integration | Low |
The complex tier is the realistic scope as soon as you need integration with your loan management system and multi-country reporting. A first lot limited to the upload portal and workflow can fit in the 2,500,000 to 4,000,000 FCFA (3,810 to 6,100 EUR) range. Specific integrations, hosting and data migration are priced on quote. Application maintenance runs from 35,000 to 120,000 FCFA per month depending on the service level.
Security and compliance
Loan files hold personal data and sensitive financials, so UK GDPR applies on your side and Togo's 2019 data protection law applies to data collected locally. The platform needs strong authentication for staff, encryption of stored documents, role and country based access rights, access logging and a retention policy matching your obligations. A security review before go-live is strongly recommended.
Mini case study
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Emma, head of credit at a London lender focused on West African SMEs, handles 2,800 applications a year with a 60 % approval rate: 1,680 loans with an average size equivalent to GBP 32,000.
- Current decision time: 40 days. Target: 10 days. Gain: 30 days per loan.
- Interest earned earlier: 1,680 x GBP 32,000 x 11 % annual rate x 30/365 = about GBP 486,000 of interest brought forward over the year (a cash timing effect, not net profit).
- Analyst time: 3 hours of re-keying and chasing saved per file, 8,400 hours a year, roughly 4 to 5 full-time roles redeployed to origination.
- Lost deals: if 8 % of approved SMEs walk away to faster lenders and the platform keeps half of them, that is 67 extra loans a year.
Against a complex custom build, payback is measured in months.
FAQ
How long does it take to deploy a loan origination platform?
Plan 3 to 5 months for portal, workflow and scoring, and 5 to 7 months with integration into your loan management system. A 6-week pilot on one country desk is recommended before full rollout.
Can the scoring engine read SYSCOHADA statements directly?
Yes, once an import template is defined (standardised spreadsheet or guided entry of balance sheet and income statement lines). The 15 to 20 key ratios are then computed automatically, and the scorecard stays configurable by risk.
Where is the data hosted?
The application can run on your own cloud tenancy in the UK or EU, or with a regional host in West Africa. That choice is set in the quote and drives the monthly hosting cost.
What if our delegated authority policy changes?
Thresholds, amounts and escalation rules are admin settings, not code. Moving from 4 to 5 approval levels takes a few minutes for an administrator.
What total budget should we plan?
Depending on complexity, 2,500,000 to 15,000,000+ FCFA (3,810 to 22,870+ EUR) for the application, plus maintenance of 35,000 to 120,000 FCFA per month. Integrations and hosting are priced on quote.
Let's scope your project. Share your current credit pipeline and delegated authority levels, and we will propose a phased scope and a go-live timeline. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
