SMEDAN Outlines 2026 Plans for Nigerian MSMEs
The Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Advancement Agency of Nigeria, Charles Odii, has unveiled a comprehensive agenda for the country’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector in 2026, promising increased business formalization, capacity development, and access to affordable financing for small businesses.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday to highlight the agency’s achievements in 2025, Odii disclosed that SMEDAN will seek regulatory approvals from the Central Bank of Nigeria to operate a microfinance bank and from the Ministry of education to establish a polytechnic and mono-technic offering diplomas in entrepreneurship education.
According to Odii, a key takeaway from 2025 is that “good things take time,” and he assured stakeholders that 2026 will see the implementation of several initiatives currently in development for the past 18 to 24 months.
SMEDAN anticipates formalizing 250,000 new businesses by the first quarter of 2026, with ongoing efforts to secure the formalization of an additional one million enterprises.
“We will be announcing five key initiatives for 2026, and the first will focus on the formalization of small businesses. By Q1 2026, we aim to have handed over 250,000 newly registered businesses. We are also working with the presidency to formalize another one million businesses,” he said.
“The last count identified approximately 39,634,285 nano, micro, small, and medium enterprises. We are confident that this number will increase due to the formalization process underway and to be launched in 2026. We expect to see both new small businesses emerge and existing ones become formalized,” Odii added.
The DG also announced that the national MSME policy, which guides the sector for five years, is currently under review.
“The policy is scheduled to be announced by December 31, 2025. we are consulting with stakeholders to gather input,and a draft will be shared with businesses for feedback before submission to the President and the Federal Executive Council for approval,” Odii said.
he emphasized the importance of small businesses actively participating in shaping policies that affect their operations. SMEDAN is also exploring policies to integrate former inmates into the workforce, providing training six months to a year before their release to equip them with employable skills and overcome societal stigma.