Oluwatobi Adu 
ABUJA, Nigeria – The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) says it is seeking approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to establish a microfinance bank as part of a broader government push to formalise businesses and expand access to low-cost funding for small enterprises.
The Director-General of SMEDAN, Charles Odii, discloses the plan during a media briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, outlining the agency’s five-point reform agenda for 2026.
Odii says the proposed microfinance bank would allow SMEDAN to directly disburse and supervise funding for micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs), while also attracting support from international development partners.
“And that is actually what 2026 is going to do; it will unfold all the work we have done over the last 18 to 24 months,” he says. “The first major focus is the formalisation of small businesses.”
According to him, SMEDAN plans to register at least 250,000 new businesses in 2026 and is engaging the Presidency to scale that figure to one million, as part of efforts to integrate informal enterprises into the formal economy.
Odii also announces that the agency will unveil a revised National MSME Policy in 2026, as the current policy framework, last updated in 2021, expires at the end of this year. “The policy governs the MSME ecosystem, and by December 31, it must be reviewed,” he says, adding that consultations across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory will conclude in the first quarter of 2026.
On financing, Odii says SMEDAN has arranged about ₦12 billion in funding at single-digit interest rates, targeting three to five million MSMEs. “There will be a lot of cheap funding. The most expensive one is 9.5 per cent,” he says.
He adds that capacity building and infrastructure development, including industrial clusters and improved power supply, remain critical to job creation and national security.
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