The Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Charles Odii, has unveiled an ambitious and far-reaching agenda aimed at repositioning Nigeria’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector in 2026, with strong emphasis on business formalisation, skills and capacity enhancement, and improved access to affordable financing.
Addressing journalists during a press briefing in Abuja, Odii disclosed that SMEDAN intends to formalise 250,000 additional businesses by the first quarter of 2026, while simultaneously working towards securing up to one million more business registrations. He explained that Nigeria is currently home to an estimated 39.6 million nano, micro, small, and medium enterprises, a figure projected to increase significantly as more informal businesses are brought into the formal economy through SMEDAN-led initiatives.
Odii further announced that the agency plans to seek regulatory approvals from the Central Bank of Nigeria to establish a SMEDAN-owned microfinance bank, as well as approvals from the Federal Ministry of Education to set up a polytechnic and a mono-technic. These institutions would offer diploma programmes focused on entrepreneurship and enterprise development, with the goal of creating structured funding channels and delivering accredited, practical business education to entrepreneurs across the country.
He also revealed that the national MSME policy, which provides strategic direction for the sector over a five-year period, is currently undergoing a comprehensive review and is expected to be unveiled by December 31, 2025. According to Odii, SMEDAN is engaging a wide range of stakeholders to contribute to the policy review process before it is submitted to the President and the Federal Executive Council for final approval. He stressed the need for small business owners to actively participate in shaping policies that directly impact their operations. In addition, the agency is considering initiatives targeted at rehabilitating and integrating former inmates into the workforce through pre-release vocational training and skills acquisition programmes.
On the issue of financing, Odii stated that SMEDAN has facilitated access to ₦12 billion in low-cost funding, benefiting more than three million SMEs nationwide. He added that about 6,000 businesses have already been trained under the agency’s Integrated Consulting and Support Services (ICSS) curriculum, with plans to scale up the programme substantially in 2026. SMEDAN has also upgraded several industrial development centres located in Abuja, Katsina, Osun, and Ikorodu, providing entrepreneurs with affordable workspaces, shared equipment, and reliable power supply. Plans are underway to extend these centres to all 774 local government areas to combat unemployment and stimulate enterprise development.
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The Director-General noted that SMEDAN’s Conditional Grant Scheme has so far supported over 18,000 nano-businesses across the country, while the One Local Government, One Product (OLOP) initiative has provided grants and loans to about 3,100 registered companies. In addition, the National Reach Competition continues to fund promising business ideas on a quarterly basis, offering entrepreneurs the capital and resources required to grow sustainable ventures.
Odii disclosed that the agency has successfully registered more than 260,000 businesses, enabling them to open bank accounts and build verifiable credit histories that improve their chances of accessing formal loans. Through strategic collaborations with state governments and commercial banks, SMEDAN has mobilised over ₦12 billion in single-digit interest loans for SMEs in states such as Enugu, Kaduna, Katsina, and Zamfara. These funds have helped businesses expand their working capital, secure operational spaces, and purchase essential tools and equipment.
Capacity building remains a central pillar of SMEDAN’s strategy, with over 14,000 enterprises trained in areas including financial management, access to finance, and export readiness. Programmes linked to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) have also supported SMEs in positioning their products and services for regional and global markets.
Looking ahead, Odii outlined five key priority areas for 2026: accelerating business formalisation, strengthening policy implementation, expanding access to funding, deepening capacity development, and scaling up infrastructure for enterprise support. He linked the empowerment of small businesses to national stability and security, remarking that “hunger breeds anger, and anger fuels violence. By empowering SMEs, we address insecurity from its foundation.”
He concluded by noting that SMEDAN’s 2025 milestones and 2026 projections are part of a broader national strategy to stabilise the economy, curb unemployment, and reinforce Nigeria’s MSME ecosystem, which represents more than 90 per cent of all businesses and provides livelihoods for tens of millions of Nigerians across both the formal and informal sectors.
