World MSMEs Day: SEDAN unveils initiative for small businesses

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), in partnership with Casava Insurance, has created the Business Gro initiative under its Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Mass Registration Programme (MMRP).

This is to provide SMEDAN-registered businesses with access to exceptional value-added services and government benefits in commemoration of this year’s World MSMEs Day.

The theme of this year’s celebration is “Building a Stronger Future Together.” In line with this, the Business Gro Initiative seeks to address the challenges faced by MSMEs in Nigeria through the registration and provision of developmental benefits to informal and semi-formal MSMEs.

Through the Business Gro Initiative, registered businesses with SMEDAN will have access to benefits such as: SMEDAN Certificate with embedded SMEDAN Unique Identification Number (SUIN) confirming their business status; access to grants, loans, and other financial services through SMEDAN or in partnership with other development agencies; access to capacity building, training, and other business learning opportunities for the business owner and employees; and business continuity cover against selected unforeseen circumstances impacting business operations.

Nigeria has more than 39.6 million MSMEs contributing up to 48 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP; and over 59 million jobs as of 2022, which is well over 84 per cent of the total labour force in Nigeria. Many of the MSMEs require access to capital, capacity building, access to markets, equipment, innovations, information, linkages, etc., to sustain, grow, and build their businesses into more profitable ventures.

Speaking on the initiative, Director-General of SMEDAN, Olawale Tunde Fasanya, said: “SMEs are the backbone of every economy, and they face many challenges affecting their ability to scale, especially due to their unstructured nature. SMEDAN Intends to position MSMEs for stronger and better performance as we have provided benefits to combat major setbacks faced by MSMEs, which include access to funds/credit facilities, insurance, training, for a small fee” he said, adding that “SMEDAN is fully committed to this initiative in the quest to ensure SMEs can fulfil their potential with proper guidance and exposure, avoid a business collapse that could drag business owners and employees deeper into poverty.”

“Our obligation to these MSMEs is to help them grow their business and ensure they can access every necessary information and linkages to becoming a generational business”, he concluded.

Owners of MSMEs can now visit https://smedanregister.ng/ to register their business with SMEDAN for free and gain subsidised access to various support services.