Over 2500 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria will benefit from the $3.5 million that the Abuja Enterprise Agency (AEA) plans to distribute over the course of the next two years, according to the agency.
At the launch of the 10th edition of Business 360, which had as its theme Technology Utilization and Innovation: Its Effect On SME Profitability and Productivity, organized by Abuja Enterprise Agency, managing director/chief executive Shehu Abdulkadir announced this (AEA).
According to him, the agency provided nearly N200 million to over 888 SMEs in Abuja in December 2022, and by April 2023, they hope to provide the next round of grants to SMEs.
Abdulkadir claims that the disbursement is a two-year project, with a projected final disbursement of N3.5 million to over 2500 SMEs in Abuja.
“I am pleased to report that all of the stakeholders from various associations and establishments have benefited from the grants being distributed by the World Bank agency, and I am very optimistic that as we move into the next phase, we will attract more participants from a variety of stakeholders across all six area councils of the FCT.
“We host a lot of events specifically for women, and it might interest you to know that most of our project activities at Abuja Enterprise Agency have been purposefully planned to target at least 60% women.
As we move forward, we will make sure that the numbers are scaled up to ensure that we meet our 60% target, he said. “We have 55% of the beneficiaries to be women,” he said.
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He continued by saying that the 360 business is an occasion that welcomes participants from regulatory agencies as well as SMEs, allowing the SMEs and the regulatory agencies to discuss the SME ecosystem as it pertains to them on a single platform.
“The theme, which deals with the adaptability of technology towards the profitability of SMEs, is very appropriate because COVID has brought about a lot of disruption, one of which is the requirement that you adapt the technology in order to be successful and profitable in your business.
“For this reason, one of the crucial facets of the MKS projects, which Abuja Enterprise Agency is managing in the FCT and which are intended to support the recovery of SMEs from the COVID pandemic, is supporting SMEs with technology enhancement that will help them towards recovery from the pandemic. Other facets include credit grants, for those who have access to facilities from financial institutions.
He stated, “The first category is overhead grants to support SMEs affected by the pandemic, with salaries and wages, utility bills and the like.”
