Loans, Digital Access Top Agenda As Nigeria Hosts 4th AU MSME Forum

Delegates from over 50 African countries will converge in Abuja from Monday, June 23 to Friday, 27, 2025 to address challenges affecting small businesses, particularly affordable financing, enhancing digital transformation and improving market access.

According to a statement by the spokesman of the vice president of Nigeria, Stanley Nkwocha, the country will host the rest of Africa on the platform of the African Union Commission for the 4th African Union (AU) MSME Forum to exchange ideas on how to improve intra- and inter-African trade and support the growth of small businesses on the continent.

Deputy Chief of Staff to the President (Office of the Vice President), Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, who disclosed this yesterday in a press conference at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, said the goal was to empower small businesses by strengthening policies on MSME development.

“The principal objective is to empower Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises, develop intra-African value chains and strengthen policies on MSME development through fostering strategic partnerships that will eventually empower MSMEs to thrive on the continent,” he said.

Hadejia called on key players and stakeholders in the Nigerian ecosystem to leverage the platform provided by the forum to build new networks for investments and market access across Africa and beyond.

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, said while Nigeria was rising again and the world was paying attention, the approval for the hosting of the event by President Bola Tinubu was one way of showcasing to the world that Nigeria was ready to do business.