By Progress Godfrey
The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has disclosed plans to obtain a licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to operate a microfinance bank, a move aimed at directly disbursing and monitoring funds for small businesses while attracting more international development finance.
The Director-General of SMEDAN, Charles Odii, revealed this during a media parley in Abuja, where he unveiled the agency’s five-point agenda for 2026. He said SMEDAN is also engaging the Presidency to register one million additional small businesses, on top of its target of 250,000 new registrations next year.
“And that is actually what 2026 is going to do; it is going to unfold all the good things that we’ve worked on for the last 18 to 24 months,” Odii said. “In 2026, we would have over 250,000 new registered businesses, but we’re pushing with the presidency for another one million.
”Odii noted that SMEDAN will also unveil a revised National MSME Policy in 2026, as the current framework, last reviewed in 2021, expires by December 31, 2025. He said the review process would be inclusive and reflect the realities of MSMEs across the 36 states and the FCT.
On financing, the SMEDAN boss said access to affordable credit remains a priority, revealing plans to broker about ₦12 billion in single-digit loans for MSMEs nationwide.
“The money that we have negotiated is at a single digit. It is at 9%. The most expensive one is 9.5%,” he stated.
According to him, about 500,000 MSMEs have already accessed such funding, with plans to scale this to between three and five million businesses. He added that capacity building and infrastructure development through expanded training and industrial hubs will also drive job creation, reduce business costs and strengthen national security.
