Startup funding exists despite scarce investment-ready firms – SMEDAN

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has identified a critical gap in the nation's startup ecosystem: a scarcity of investment-ready businesses rather than a lack of available funding. The agency is actively addressing this by training a new cohort of entrepreneurship trainers, aiming to equip young Nigerians with the essential skills to develop innovative, technology-driven, and globally competitive enterprises.

During the commencement of a two-week Training of Trainers program in Abuja, Onesi-Lawani, representing SMEDAN's Director-General, Charles Odii, highlighted the program's objective. It is designed to produce ACE-certified trainers capable of nurturing young entrepreneurs to build and scale businesses that meet investor requirements. The selection process for the training was highly competitive, attracting over 1,100 applications, with 30 candidates ultimately chosen across Business Management and Artificial Intelligence streams.

Onesi-Lawani stressed that while significant funding opportunities exist for Nigerian startups, many businesses struggle to attract capital due to deficiencies in structure, innovation, scalability, and robust business models. "Significant funding opportunities exist for Nigerian startups, but there remains a shortage of investment-ready businesses capable of attracting available capital," he stated. The focus is on cultivating entrepreneurs who can create businesses with the capacity to compete beyond the Nigerian market and attract international investment.

Key sectors identified as having major opportunities include fintech, agritech, healthtech, logistics, and mobility. SMEDAN's initiative underscores a strategic shift towards building a more robust and investment-attractive entrepreneurial landscape in Nigeria, moving beyond simply providing capital to developing the foundational business acumen required for sustained growth and global competitiveness.

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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.