SMEDAN, Partner Earmark N20bn Digital Technology Support For 25,000 MSMEs

Access to affordable digital technology remains a major hurdle to the productivity and competitiveness of Nigeria’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), prompting the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), and global technology firm, Zoho, to launch a new initiative targeting 25,000 businesses.

Under the partnership, Zoho will provide wallet credits with an aggregate value of up to N20 billion to a maximum of 25,000 eligible MSMEs within the SMEDAN ecosystem, allowing them to access the company’s cloud-based business applications.

The initiative is designed to reduce the financial barrier to digital adoption among small businesses while improving their ability to manage operations, customers, accounting, collaboration and other core business functions through cloud technology.

The partnership is also aligned with SMEDAN’s GROW Nigerian strategy, which focuses on formalisation, access to finance and markets, productivity and digital adoption as key drivers of sustainable MSME growth.

Speaking on the initiative, Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of SMEDAN, Charles Odii, said the agency’s priority was to help businesses move beyond survival to sustainable growth.

“Our focus at SMEDAN is to ensure that small businesses are able to move from survival to growth and prosperity. That means helping entrepreneurs formalise, improve productivity, reach new markets and build businesses that can compete,” Odii said.

He added that digital capability had become an important component of that transition, noting that the partnership would provide thousands of MSMEs within the agency’s ecosystem with a practical pathway to strengthen their operations and expand their businesses.

Meanwhile, the programme comes as SMEDAN continues efforts to bring more small businesses into the formal economy. The agency is partnering with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to facilitate the free registration of 250,000 businesses, a move expected to position more MSMEs to access formal markets and other growth opportunities.

Country Head, Zoho Nigeria, Kehinde Ogundare, said access to technology alone would not be sufficient unless businesses could effectively deploy it to solve operational challenges.

“MSMEs are fundamental to Nigeria’s economic development, but technology can only deliver its full potential when businesses are able to access and effectively use it,” Ogundare said.

He said the partnership would go beyond providing technology credits to include training, consultations and technical support, adding that Zoho was seeking to reduce the barriers preventing Nigerian businesses from adopting enterprise-grade digital tools.

Similarly, eligible businesses will be able to deploy the Zoho Wallet Credits across more than 60 applications, including Zoho Workplace for business email and collaboration, Bigin by Zoho CRM for customer and sales pipeline management, and Zoho Books for cloud-based accounting.

However, Zoho and SMEDAN will provide participating businesses with training sessions, workshops, one-on-one business consultations and ongoing technical support throughout the programme.

Also, the partners are expected to jointly manage outreach to eligible businesses and monitor adoption and impact, with the broader objective of strengthening digital capabilities and building a more resilient and competitive MSME ecosystem in Nigeria.