Get Guardian on GoogleLagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has identified inadequate funding, poor infrastructure and limited market access as major constraints to the growth of Nigeria’s estimated 39.6 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
He called for stronger collaboration among federal and state governments, financial institutions and private sector operators to address the challenges and improve the capacity of small businesses to create jobs and contribute to economic growth.
Sanwo-Olu spoke at the 2026 GROW Nigerian Conference, organised by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) on Monday in Lagos.
He said passion and entrepreneurial ambition alone were insufficient to sustain businesses without access to affordable credit, reliable infrastructure, appropriate regulation and wider markets.
The governor urged stakeholders to ensure that interventions reach small business owners at the grassroots, noting that MSMEs remain important to employment generation and household livelihoods.
He said the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund had supported nearly 39,000 businesses through low-interest loans, grants and operational vouchers. The state had also introduced funding programmes targeting technology startups and creative enterprises.
Director-General of SMEDAN, Charles Odii, said the Federal Government had prioritised access to finance, tax reforms, business formalisation and investment in production facilities as part of efforts to strengthen the MSME sector.
He said the agency was supporting informal businesses to register, while expanding access to shared industrial centres, equipment facilities and business advisory services.
Odii disclosed that SMEDAN trained more than 1.76 million business owners in the past year. He said the conference had brought together 230 entrepreneurs to showcase their products, participate in masterclasses and pitch their businesses to potential funding partners.
MTN Nigeria, a headline partner of the conference, said it had developed the mySMEville platform in partnership with SMEDAN to connect small businesses with mentorship, grants, credit, investors, markets and workforce training.
The company’s Chief Enterprise Business Officer, Lynda Saint-Nwafor, said Nigeria’s challenge was not a lack of entrepreneurial ambition but inadequate support to help businesses grow.
She also acknowledged SMEDAN’s commitment to providing free Corporate Affairs Commission registration for small businesses.
