The Presidency has disclosed the receipt of over 60,000 applications from small business entrepreneurs across the country following the submission for the 2025 National MSME Awards, which opened on Friday 7th March, 2025.
At the opening of entries, the Presidency declared that the overall winner of the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) of the Year awards will go home with a car, house, shop, and cash prize, all valued at a whopping N220 million.
According to the Presidency on Monday, agricultural-based enterprises lead the pack and are closely followed by enterprises in the Information and Digital Technology sector, the Creative Industry, leatherworks, Furniture and Wood Work, Manufacturing and Fashion, Beauty and Cosmetics, and persons living with disability after the portal opened for submission of applications for the 7th edition this year.
Temitola Adekunle-Johnson, Special Adviser to the President on Job Creation & MSME noted that the applications received for this year’s competition have so far come from businesses operating in Lagos, Aba; Kaduna, Maiduguri; Makurdi, Birnin Kebbi; Damaturu,bAbakaliki and many other locations across the country.
Adekunle-Johnson revealed that, “the huge interest shown by small enterprises across the country reflects the integrity and significance of the awards in galvanising support and growth in the MSME space in Nigeria.”
According to a presidential aide, “the incentives earmarked for this year’s awardees underscore the federal government and private sector commitment to transforming the MSME space in Nigeria, especially in recognition of MSME contribution to economic development and job creation.
“The feedback from the technical team as regards the submission of applications is encouraging” Adekunle-Johnson said, just as he urged more small enterprises to leverage the opportunity by sending in their entries as the portal remains open till April 7.
“They are encouraged to go to https://msmeclinics.gov.ng/ and complete the application process.”
Meanwhile, in the other categories, the winners will go home with prizes worth over N50m each in the flagship programme after a transparent process vetted by a screening committee made up of agencies of government collaborating with the office of the Vice President.
They are Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), National Agency for Foods, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigeria Sugar Development Agency, Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Bank of Industries (BOI), Raw Material Research and Development Council, National Information Technology Development Agency, Nigerian Tourism Development Agency, Corporate Affairs Commission and the Private sector represented by Wema bank, Access bank, and Nexim bank respectively.
