If you manage an MSME in Nigeria, you must have heard about SMEDAN. And you are right. Two abbreviations in the first line aren’t an award-winning move. So, we will continue by “de-abbreviating” them if we must make headway.
MSME stands for micro, small and medium enterprises. It is another term for Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs. Hence, SMEDAN stands for Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria. SMEDAN is an agency which the Federal government established in 2003 with the sole aim of developing MSMEs across the country.
According to Bookings, there are more than 40 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria and these accounts for the employment of over 80% of the country’s population and about 50% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Hence, the establishment of an agency like SMEDAN is not only beneficial but also crucial to the survival of businesses that are central to the country’s economy.
Before we dig into everything there is to know about SMEDAN, let us take a look at those that make up the 80% MSME owners in the country’s population. Tailors, artisans, hairdressers, hoteliers, fashion designers, makeover artists, photographers, event planners, traders, restaurant owners, confectioners and so on, all fall into the category of small and medium enterprises and are required to be registered with SMEDAN.
Here are all we know about SMEDAN
It was founded by the Obasanjo presidency
As you may have read above, SMEDAN was founded in 2003 by the government of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. In case you skipped the intro, well, here you have it again. It may be surprising to you that SMEDAN is heading to its third decade since you only just began to hear about it.
The Agency’s current DG is Dr. Dikko Umaru Radda who has been the chief executive of SMEDAN since March, 2016. After his tenure ended, he was reappointed on March 15, 2021, by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The vision of the Agency as seen on their official website is to strengthen the economy of Nigeria by establishing a structured and well-developed micro, small, and medium enterprise sector in the country.
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The Agency’s mission is to facilitate the access of entrepreneurs who own MSMEs to all the resources they will require for their smooth development.
Additionally, SMEDAN has an objective of initiating policies, facilitating and promoting various entrepreneurship programs that are aimed at modernizing the Outlook of MSMEs in Nigeria.
For instance, in November 2019, Jack Ma, the founder of the giant e-commerce group, Alibaba, paid a visit to Nigeria to attend the country’s Digital Economy Summit, and several young entrepreneurs aspiring to make it in the digital front of MSMEs got a chance to hear the billionaire businessman discuss the economy as it relates to the entrepreneur on an international scale. SMEDAN is responsible for making such programs happen.
In keeping with the body’s aims and objectives for the development of MSMEs in Nigeria, the Director-General, Dr. Umaru Radda, announced a few months ago that the Agency has begun registration processes for MSME owners in Nigeria.
The purpose of the registration is to create a formal database for all MSMEs in Nigeria which will help ensure better monitoring, control, and maintenance of the development of these enterprises. This registration comes with the allocation of a Unique Identification Number (UIN) and a SMEDAN certificate to each business that successfully completes the registration.
After registration for a business is complete and a SMEDAN certificate is issued, the business owner becomes eligible to be enrolled in SMEDAN’s Conditional Grant Scheme which provides up to 50,000 naira to support MSMEs in the country.
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