SMEDAN Unveils Explosive 2026 MSME Blitz: 250k New Businesses, N12 Billion Cheap Loans

By Angel Ike

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has launched its 2026 roadmap targeting business formalisation, affordable finance, and a revamped national MSME policy to fuel inclusive growth.

Director-General of SMEDAN Charles Odii disclosed this at a media party in Abuja, announcing plans to register and hand over N250,000 new businesses by early 2026.

He said SMEDAN is pushing for one million more formalisation to unlock credit access across the country.

Odii said the agency is brokering ₦12 billion in single-digit interest loans for over three million MSMEs, expanding capacity-building programs to curb unemployment and insecurity in Nigeria

The SMEDAN Boss also announced that a revised National MSME Policy would be unveiled in 2026, following the expiration of the current five-year policy framework

Odii revealed that the agency is seeking regulatory approvals to establish microfinance banks and a specialised entrepreneurship polytechnic in 2026 to deepen business development support for MSMEs nationwide, alongside rolling out the updated National MSME Policy.