The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria SMEDAN has, in three years, registered one million fifty-nine thousand six hundred and fifty small businesses on the SMEDAN database, noting that it has strengthened the MSMEs’ ability to identify entrepreneurs, target interventions, and collect businesses, including training.

The Director General of SMEDAN, Charles Odii, disclosed this during the 2026 MSME Week in Lagos, stating that the agency has facilitated the creation of over one hundred thousand jobs through enterprise development, skills training, finance, equipment support and helping small businesses establish their operations.

He added that it has set out to mobilise billions in affordable financing for small businesses through public-private partnership and to also expand financial operations and options for small business owners. SMEDAN has provided productive equipment and startup tools to over two hundred thousand businesses through the MSMEs initiative.

According to the DG, “The agency has secured free Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) registration for two hundred and fifty thousand small businesses, with over one hundred thousand businesses completing their CAC registration. Three thousand five hundred cooperatives nationwide have been financed over these three years, as the agency helps them improve operations, expand production, and commercialise viable products from local resources.

“Presently, the agency is working swiftly to secure a two billion dollar investment from the republic of Korea for the establishment of the Abuja center for entrepreneurship. The agency has also started the disbursement of a hundred million in grants through an MSME pitch competition. While this is being done, some people have won millions of naira through pitching, which is highly commendable.

“SMEDAN has completed the National stakeholder validation of the national policy of MSME from 2026-2031. Again, the agency has prioritised the industrial development centre in IDU that helps with ten thousand artisans in renewable energy; it provides clean power for government production and builds technical skills for the renewable energy sector”.

Odii advised that as a member of any of the SMEDAN cooperatives, there is a need to be part of the one local government one product initiative. As an SME, you should get the necessary information and belong to a cooperative. In these three years on board, we established the Nigeria Startup Innovation Academy with our partners, helping our small businesses with the funds and skills that they need to start and expand. (The Nation)