With micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) supporting the economy, yet continually poorly funded and left to struggle, founder, The Marketing Clinic, Julian Etuokwu-Oludumila, has announced via the company’s March 2026 Report, that 10,306 African MSMEs would receive business support to aid struggling entrepreneurs.
 
According to Etuokwu-Oludumila, when she launched the project, she had a small target of 300 business owners within six months.
 
Five months later however, she said the goal had changed; noting that the increase represents 30 times the initial target; indicating a massive, urgent demand for structured business marketing support across the continent.
 
Speaking with The Guardian in Lagos, she Etuokwu-Oludumila stated that MSMEs are not short of ambition or effort, but lack practical repeatable marketing systems that convert effort into sustainable revenue.

She further disclosed that data from the first phase of the clinic identified some recurring challenges among entrepreneurs, including marketing campaigns without strategic foundations, financial records lacking clarity and digital activities that do not deliver a measurable return on investment. According to her, the clinic’s work is built on marketing, money and digital marketing foundations.

By replacing ad hoc activity with systems-driven processes, the firm had moved from a simple outreach initiative to a critical intervention hub for business owners seeking clarity.
 
“The data showed us that seven in 10 businesses say their social media activities were not producing results. Another six in 10 cited financial clarity as the main barrier to scaling. Entrepreneurs are doing the work, selling, but without reasonable profit and some, zero profit,” she said.

Noting that the focus is shifting from signing up to high-impact execution, she said the 90-Day Implementation Party, from April to June, would fix identified gaps by building solid marketing as well as money and digital marketing systems to ensure growth remains sustainable.

The March 2026 Report confirmed that the 10,306 MSMEs span multiple sectors and countries across Africa, with the highest demand coming from service-based businesses and early-stage companies looking to stabilise customer acquisition.