The Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, Charles Odii, has outlined a comprehensive agenda for the country’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises sector in 2026, focusing on business formalisation, capacity development, and access to affordable financing.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja, Odii said SMEDAN plans to formalise 250,000 new businesses by the first quarter of 2026, with efforts underway to secure an additional one million registrations. He noted that Nigeria currently hosts approximately 39.6 million nano, micro, small, and medium enterprises, a number expected to rise as more businesses are formalised under the agency’s initiatives.
Odii revealed that SMEDAN will seek regulatory approvals from the Central Bank of Nigeria to operate a microfinance bank and from the Ministry of Education to establish a polytechnic and mono-technic offering diplomas in entrepreneurship education. These steps are aimed at providing direct funding channels and accredited business training to strengthen entrepreneurial capacity nationwide.
The national MSME policy, guiding the sector for five years, is under review and set to be announced by December 31, 2025. Stakeholders are being consulted to provide input before submission to the President and the Federal Executive Council for approval. Odii emphasised the importance of small businesses playing an active role in shaping policies affecting their operations. The agency is also exploring programmes to integrate former inmates into the workforce through pre-release training and skills development.
On financing, SMEDAN has brokered N12bn in cheap funding to support over three million SMEs, while training approximately 6,000 businesses under its ICSS curriculum, with plans to expand this number significantly in 2026. The agency has modernised industrial development centres in Abuja, Katsina, Osun, and Ikorodu, offering affordable workspaces, equipment, and power, with plans to expand to 774 centres nationwide to address unemployment and promote enterprise growth.
SMEDAN’s Conditional Grant Scheme has disbursed support to over 18,000 nano-businesses, while the One Local Government, One Product initiative awarded grants and loans to 3,100 corporations. The National Reach Competition has funded viable business ideas quarterly, empowering entrepreneurs with capital and resources.
The agency has registered over 260,000 businesses, providing them with bank accounts and credit histories to improve access to loans. Partnerships with state governments and commercial banks have mobilised over N12bn in single-digit interest loans to SMEs across states, including Enugu, Kaduna, Katsina, and Zamfara, enabling businesses to expand working capital, acquire workspaces, and procure tools.
Training remains a priority, with more than 14,000 businesses educated on financial literacy, access to finance, and export readiness under initiatives like the African Continental Free Trade Area, supporting SMEs in reaching African and international markets.
Odii outlined five major focus areas for 2026: business formalisation, policy implementation, funding access, capacity development, and infrastructure expansion. He linked SME empowerment to national security, stating, “Hunger leads to anger; anger leads to violence. By supporting SMEs, we can tackle insecurity at its root.”
The agency’s 2025 achievements and 2026 targets form part of a broader strategy to stabilize the economy, reduce unemployment, and strengthen Nigeria’s MSME ecosystem, which accounts for over 90 per cent of businesses and employs tens of millions of Nigerians across formal and informal sectors.
