Entrepreneur - NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA

Philip Daniel Yatai
Mar, Thu, 2025

SMEDAN seeks concrete action for empowerment of women entrepreneurs

126 total views today

By Lucy Ogalue

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has called for decisive action to support women entrepreneurs and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria.

SMEDAN Director-General, Mr Charles Odii, said this at the Unveiling of SMEDAN’s GrowHer Accelerator Programme, organised to mark the 2025 International Women’s Day on Thursday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the event is: “Accelerate Action for Gender Equality”.

Odii, while reiterating the need to celebrate achievements of women entrepreneurs and promote gender equality in the MSME sector, emphasised the need to move beyond discussions to real economic impact.

The director-general challenged stakeholders to transition from dialogue to implementation.

He highlighted the crucial role of MSMEs in Nigeria’s economy, noting that they accounted for 39.65 million businesses, contribute nearly 50 per cent to the GDP, and provide 60 million jobs.

“If there are 100 businesses in Nigeria, 96 of them are MSMEs,” he said.

In spite of their contributions, he acknowledged key challenges, particularly low manufacturing output (10-15 per cent) and underdeveloped industrial jobs.

Odii called for immediate steps to strengthen MSMEs and boost industrial productivity.

The director-general, as part of SMEDAN’s commitment to supporting women entrepreneurs, unveiled the “GROW” initiative—which stands for Guardians, Resources, Opportunities, and Workforce Support.

“GROW is our promise to you. We will guide you with regulatory support, connect you to financial resources, and provide the opportunities you need to expand,” he said.

Reaffirming SMEDAN’s commitment to tangible solutions, Odii assured participants of direct assistance.

“Those interested in registering with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), we will guide you through it today.

“We encourage women entrepreneurs to leverage international trade agreements to expand their businesses.

“The dollar standard is rising, and the solution is simple: if you start exporting, the dollar will start coming in.

“So, we urge you to take advantage of agreements like the African Continental Free Trade Area and the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme to grow your businesses,” he said.

The Executive Director of NEPC, Mrs Nonye Ayeni, reiterated the importance for MSMEs in the country to improve on packaging of their products which was affecting export rates.

Ayeni also urged the entrepreneurs to work in clusters and de-risk their businesses to be able to gain more support for their businesses.

“The reason you are not able to access funds is because you are not de-risking your business. No bank wants to give money when they can not see their money in a bank.

“Women, let us get together, de-risk our business, and ensure that we are able to tap into the opportunities that the environment presents,” she said.

Also speaking, the Managing Director, Nigeria Commodity Exchange, Mr Anthony Atuche, commended the SMEDAN D-G for his pro-women and pro-business efforts.

Atuche urged entrepreneurs to focus more on food production to help address the issue of food security and sustainability.

“This is because we have a lot of markets to feed in the country. Without even talking about the export potential.

“But then, while we also need to feed, we have some food crops that are basically export crops.

“And the exchange is actually setting up processing capacities in those regions.

“Storage capacities in those regions to help our smallholder producers to actually process those products and refine them into international standards.

He said the exchange was collaborating with NEPC and other stakeholders to address the issue of quality control and rejects of our products internationally.

Meanwhile, Olabimpe Fawale, the Head, Women and Youth Unit at SMEDAN, also reinforced the agency’s commitment to supporting women entrepreneurs.

“Today, we gather not just to celebrate, but to truly appreciate and commend the efforts of women entrepreneurs.

“SMEDAN’s new Grow Our Accelerator Programme, is designed specifically to mentor and build the capacity of women entrepreneurs.

“The programme aims to empower 100 women annually across three cohorts. Women-owned and women-led enterprises are the focus.

“We are opening the portal for registration immediately, and we will be shortlisting beneficiaries to join the programme,” she said.

According to her, the programme will equip the entrepreneurs with critical resources and support for growth and development. (NAN)

Edited by Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma

Philip Daniel Yatai
Feb, Fri, 2025

Economy/Business

ECA, AfCFTA to boost visibility of women, youths through e-commerce

246 total views today

By Lucy Ogalue

Women and youth entrepreneurs in Nigeria will benefit from improved access to African markets following the validation of the Market Access Guide and E-Commerce Platform.

An Economist with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA), Mamudou Sebego, said this at the Nigeria African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Validation Workshop, in Lagos.

According to him, the entrepreneurs will gain visibility under the AfCFTA initiative.

“This event marks the third consultative engagement between the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordinating Office, with support from the UN-ECA and Nigerian businesses, focusing on enhancing the competitiveness of women and youths in cross-border trade.

“The platform and guide aim to simplify trade processes, enable visibility for products, and connect vendors with buyers across the continent.

“It is expected to address longstanding challenges such as logistics bottlenecks and difficulties with export documentation, which many small business owners have faced.”

Sebego added that the platform was designed to serve three key purposes: giving visibility to products, facilitating vendor-buyer matchmaking.and enabling cross-border transactions.

He emphasised the importance of collaboration among government agencies to ensure AfCFTA implementation.

“Registration, product verification, and customs documentation remain under the purview of various institutions such as the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), and the Nigeria Customs Service.

“The e-commerce platform will not override regulatory processes but will integrate them over time.

“The goal is to simplify and eventually connect these processes online, but regulatory bodies will still play their role,”he said.

The Representative, Nigeria AfCFTA Coordinating Office, Franca Achimugu, expressed the country’s readiness to implement AfCFTA commitments.

“Nigeria has taken a significant step forward by participating in the Guided Trade Initiative (GTI), a pilot phase of AfCFTA aimed at testing trade processes among willing and ready state parties.

“So, GTI allows countries that are ready to start trading and test the processes.

“Nigeria joined the GTI in June 2024 and successfully made its first shipment to Kenya in September, which arrived at its destination in December 2024,” she said.

Achimugu said that while the pilot shipment exposed gaps needing adjustments, Nigeria was almost good and ready to go.

She said that the ultimate goal was to enhance the competitiveness of women and youth in the AfCFTA, noting that information was more important than money.

“This work is showing us where the opportunities are across Africa and what the requirements are for each market,” she said.

Mrs Bukola Ajani, President, Association of Women in Fashion Tech, commended the initiative and expressed concerns about production cost.

“It will work similarly to platforms like Amazon and Alibaba, and business owners have expressed optimism about the project’s potential to reduce the burden associated with physically moving goods across borders.

“This will help us sell our products without travelling out of Nigeria. That is a major advantage, but concerns about production costs remain.

“Challenges such as high energy costs and currency devaluation still undermine competitiveness in the free trade market.

“With a little push and support, we are ready to showcase our products to Africa and beyond,”Ajani said.

Dr Blessing Irabor-Oza, National President, Organisation of Women in International Trade (OWIT), described the guide and platform as game-changing for women-led businesses.

“Some of our members are already exporting to the UK and US, but this will help many more women tap into the African market.

“The e-commerce platform will showcase our products and simplify payment systems,” she said.

She reiterated the potential for Nigerian products, particularly in the fashion and beauty sectors, to thrive under AfCFTA.

“Our African fashion and Shea butter products are in high demand globally, and with proper packaging and standards, we can compete with the best,” she added.

Mrs Margaret Adepetu, Women’s Coordinator for the Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria, also commended the initiative.

Adepetu said that while digital tools were helpful, addressing fundamental issues like the high cost of fuel and improving the value of the naira remained crucial.

“We can have all the platforms, but if the cost of fuel and electricity remains high, our products will still struggle to compete,” she said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was attended by representatives of government, stakeholders, entrepreneurs and partners. (NAN)

Edited by Kadiri Abdulrahman