Funding available, but Nigeria lacks investment-ready startups, says SMEDAN

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has identified a critical bottleneck in the nation's startup ecosystem: a shortage of investment-ready businesses, rather than a lack of available funding. This assessment highlights a need to cultivate entrepreneurs capable of attracting and effectively utilizing capital.

In response, SMEDAN is actively training a new cohort of entrepreneurship trainers. This initiative aims to equip young Nigerians with the essential skills to build innovative, technology-driven, and globally competitive enterprises. The program, part of the Abuja Centre for Entrepreneurship Project, is designed to produce ACE-certified trainers who can then guide aspiring entrepreneurs.

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Significant funding opportunities exist for Nigerian startups, but there remains a shortage of investment-ready businesses capable of attracting available capital. The participants are to focus on developing entrepreneurs with the capacity to build globally competitive and scalable enterprises.

During the commencement of a two-week Training of Trainers program, SMEDAN's Director-General's Office representative, Onesi-Lawani, emphasized the competitive selection process, which attracted over 1,100 applicants, with 30 ultimately chosen for the training. He urged participants to become catalysts for a new generation of Nigerian entrepreneurs.

Onesi-Lawani elaborated that while significant funding opportunities exist, many Nigerian startups struggle to secure investment due to a lack of robust structures, innovation, scalability, and investor-ready business models. The training focuses on developing entrepreneurs capable of creating businesses that can compete beyond the Nigerian market and attract international investment. Key sectors identified for growth include fintech, agritech, healthtech, logistics, and mobility.

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The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria has charged participants at the Abuja Centre for Entrepreneurship Project’s Training of Trainers programme to become catalysts for developing a new generation of innovative, technology-driven and globally competitive Nigerian entrepreneurs.