The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, SMEDAN, has rolled out plans to facilitate the registration of at least 250,000 new businesses nationwide by first quarter of 2026 and to scale up the number to one million subsequently.
Director-General of SMEDAN, Mr. Charles Odii, who disclosed this at a Media Parley with Commerce and Industry Correspondents’ Association of Nigeria, CICAN, on Wednesday in Abuja, described 2026 as the “harvest year” for initiatives developed over the past 18 to 24 months.
Odii said far-reaching reforms would be made focusing on formalisation of businesses, financing, capacity development and infrastructure expansion to transform Nigeria’s small business ecosystem.
According to him, the agency is determined to ensure that small businesses are insulated from political distractions ahead of the election cycle by front-loading key interventions from the first quarter of the year.
A major pillar of the plan is the formalisation of informal enterprises.
“By Q1 2026, we should have handed over 250,000 new registered businesses; and we are pushing with the presidency for another one million,” he said.
Nigeria currently hosts an estimated 39.6 million nano, micro and small enterprises, a figure expected to rise as more operators are integrated into the formal economy.
Odii disclosed that another critical development slated for 2026 is the unveiling of a reviewed National MSME Policy, as the existing five-year policy, introduced in 2021, expires at the end of December 2025.
He said the review process, mandated by President Bola Tinubu is being widened to accommodate more stakeholder input through the National MSME Council chaired by the Vice President and its counterparts at state level.
He stressed that SMEDAN will circulate draft versions of the policy and reconvene stakeholders, including the media, to ensure that the final framework reflects real business realities on the ground.
The DG also set an ambitious target of concluding the revised policy by the first quarter of 2026.
On financing, Odii revealed that SMEDAN is brokering up to N12 billion in affordable funding for small businesses, aimed at expanding access to single-digit interest loans.
While about 500,000 enterprises have already accessed such funds, the agency plans a major scale-up to ensure broader coverage across Nigeria’s vast MSME landscape.
Odii reaffirmed SMEDAN’s commitment to single-digit interest loans, revealing that the funding negotiated by the agency will be at between 9 and 9.5 per cent interest in partnership with development institutions and state governments.
He disclosed that states such as Enugu, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and others are matching funds with SMEDAN to create financing pools of up to N1 billion per state.
He noted that the funds are strictly tied to business purposes, working capital, workspace or farm acquisition, and procurement of work tools, to ensure they translate into enterprise growth and jobs.
Odii also said SMEDAN is pushing to secure a microfinance bank licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria to further deepen access to credit, arguing that direct control over disbursement and monitoring would improve accountability, attract more development funding and expand the agency’s capacity to issue grants alongside loans.
According to him, capacity development will equally be scaled up through an expanded training and incubation model.
Odii explained that SMEDAN is converting some of its facilities into residential training centres, complete with hostels, to allow entrepreneurs from remote local governments to undergo intensive three- to six-month incubation programmes.
He said graduates would return to their communities as skilled artisans, technicians or manufacturers, creating new jobs and local value chains, adding that approvals have been secured from the National Board for Technical Education to commence specialised training, with plans underway to award diplomas in entrepreneurship through a proposed monotechnic.
While addressing concerns over epileptic power supply to SMEDAN’s tailoring, carpentry and recycling plants, the Director-General acknowledged that energy remains one of the biggest constraints facing MSMEs.
He said SMEDAN is adopting a mix of solutions, including renewable energy, partnerships with the Rural Electrification Agency and grid support, while also working with partners to provide power.
On infrastructure, Odii said SMEDAN is working with state governments to replicate MSME hubs nationwide, providing affordable workspaces, power and shared equipment.
He argued that strengthening small businesses is central to addressing unemployment and insecurity, noting that productive enterprises reduce the social pressures that fuel unrest.
Earlier, Special Adviser to the DG of SMEDAN, Mr. Peter Adeshina, said the agency tracked over 90,000 new jobs in the first quarter of 2025, driven by interventions such as conditional grants to nano businesses, cooperative financing, nationwide business registration, equipment distribution and extensive training in finance, exports and trade.
Adeshina said SMEDAN’s approach is anchored on nationwide needs assessments to identify what existing and aspiring entrepreneurs require to start, sustain and grow their businesses.
Based on these assessments, the agency has provided equipment, grants and capacity support, often in partnership with the National Assembly.
Under its flagship Conditional Grant Scheme, SMEDAN disbursed cash grants to more than 18,000 nano businesses, including roadside traders and neighbourhood shops.
Beneficiaries also received training and bank accounts, enabling financial inclusion, credit history creation and access to future loans.
Adeshina said the One Local Government, One Product programme has supported resource-based development nationwide, with over 30,100 cooperatives receiving a mix of grants and loans to grow enterprises linked to local comparative advantages.
Through the National Pitch Competition, SMEDAN has also disbursed millions of naira in non-repayable grants to entrepreneurs with viable ideas identified during quarterly pitching sessions across the country.
To tackle structural barriers, the agency embarked on a nationwide business registration drive, registering over 260,000 enterprises into a verifiable database covering locations, CAC details and contact information. In addition, more than 200,000 work tools have been distributed under the National Business Skills Development Initiative.
Capacity building remains central to SMEDAN’s strategy, with over 40,000 businesses trained this year in financial literacy, access to finance and export readiness, including leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area.
He added that SMEDAN mobilised over N12 billion in single-digit interest loans, around nine per cent, in partnership with state governments and the private sector.
