By Sani Idris Abdulrahman
The Founder of KADA SMEs Hub, an entrepreneurship hub, Hassan Yakubu, has called for affordable loans and stronger government support to enable small businesses to thrive.
Yakubu made the call on Monday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna.
He said access to affordable financing remained one of the major challenges confronting small and medium-scale enterprises, particularly in Northern Nigeria.
According to him, many entrepreneurs have business ideas but struggle to obtain the funds required to establish and sustain their businesses.
Yakubu said KADA SMEs Hub was established to train entrepreneurs on how to establish, register, manage and sustain businesses.
He said the initiative aimed to help entrepreneurs move beyond daily hustling to building enterprises capable of surviving economic and operational challenges.
He explained that resilient enterprises should have systems capable of continuing operations in spite of changes in the business environment.
Yakubu said such businesses should also be structured to survive circumstances affecting their owners, including situations where owners could no longer manage them.
“This is why we decided to come together and guide small businesses to learn from their mistakes and build a resilient entrepreneurial community,” he said.
He said KADA SMEs Hub started in 2023 with fewer than 40 participants but had grown to more than 400 participants by its fourth edition.
Yakubu said participants had also expanded beyond Kaduna, with entrepreneurs from several Northern states taking part in the programme.
He said the hub would organise its fifth edition in 2027, subject to circumstances.
According to him, the hub has trained no fewer than 3,000 people directly and indirectly through collaborations with other entrepreneurship platforms.
He said the organisation did not stop at training but continued to mentor entrepreneurs through online and occasional programmes.
Yakubu said participants could contact the hub to discuss business challenges, seek advice and share their success stories.
He said the hub had also introduced pitching sessions to help entrepreneurs understand how to present their businesses to potential funders.
According to him, entrepreneurs pitch their business models, financial understanding, social impact and employment contributions during the sessions.
Yakubu said the pitching initiative was designed to expose entrepreneurs to opportunities to win funds that could serve as capital for business expansion.
He said participants also benefited from the corrections and recommendations provided by judges during the pitching sessions.
The entrepreneur said the government did not lack ideas for supporting SMEs but needed stronger commitment to implementing and financing such initiatives.
He called for increased involvement of the government, development organisations and institutions in financing viable small businesses.
Yakubu said affordable funding would help entrepreneurs avoid commercial loans whose interest rates could make business operations difficult.
He said government could partner with credible entrepreneurship platforms to identify viable businesses, assess their needs and provide funding.
“If an SME knows that participating in a competition can help it win one million, two million or 10 million naira, that can provide useful capital,” he said.
Yakubu said such funding could be more beneficial to businesses than obtaining expensive loans from commercial banks.
He said the government should also review the conditions attached to SME financing, particularly collateral requirements that many small businesses could not meet.
According to him, an entrepreneur seeking a small loan may be required to provide assets worth several times the amount being requested.
He said this made it difficult for businesses with limited capital to access available government-backed financing.
Yakubu urged entrepreneurs to participate in training programmes regularly to acquire knowledge, build networks and improve their businesses.
He advised them to seek mentorship, read books and learn from people with greater experience in their respective fields.
He also cautioned entrepreneurs against copying businesses without understanding their operations, challenges and strategies for overcoming setbacks.
“Stay where you know better. Learn as much as you can, read books and meet people who know it better than you,” he advised.
Yakubu said government should pay attention to the microeconomy while also addressing broader economic issues.
He said stronger SMEs would create employment opportunities and contribute to economic growth.
He added that financing SMEs could also contribute indirectly to tackling insecurity by creating sustainable employment opportunities for Nigerians.
Yakubu urged government to identify and support credible entrepreneurship platforms across the country to strengthen small businesses and promote sustainable economic development.(NAN)
Edited by Yakubu Uba
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