Major Nigerian manufacturers are increasingly bypassing commercial bank loans for capital market instruments like commercial papers and bonds to reduce financing costs. An analysis of 12 top-listed companies revealed that combined loans and borrowings dropped by 48.7 percent to 2.03 trillion naira in the first half of 2026. This shift comes as manufacturers face high lending rates and systemic credit aversion from banks, forcing a reliance on alternative fixed-income funding to manage working capital and liquidity.