"Our small and medium-sized enterprises are the life blood of our economy. They are the images that power growth and innovation. It is our duty to provide them with the necessary support and resources they need to flourish."
His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFRPresident, Commander-In-Chief, Federal Republic of Nigeria
Catalysts of Nigeria's Growth
When it comes to Nigeria's economic prosperity, the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investments, along with its various agencies, is committed to putting the right structures and programmes in place to catalyze the growth of critical sectors with particular focus on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. There are over 41 million MSMEs across Nigeria (according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics and SMEDAN) and each month, more and more businesses are setup, largely without proper structure or formal learning. Though considered as Nano or Micro, a lot of these businesses create employment at the grassroots level and have the potentials to do more. Add this statistics to the fact that 60% of our population is less than 25 years old, we begin to understand that Nigeria’s economic boost and prosperity will come from businesses that currently exists but more importantly, businesses that would be run by our youth, using recent digital technologies. There is no better time for all of us to come together through public-private-partnerships to accelerate the growth of our Youth and our MSME sector. The SME Digital Academy is one of such structures.
Welcome to the SME Digital Academy
The question you may ask is this – what makes a small business owner to succeed? Is it just funding? While funding is great for businesses, at the SME Digital Academy, we found a major gap that has slowed down businesses in Nigeria and that is KNOWLEDGE. How many business owners know how to package a business plan, or pitch an idea, or do great customer service or sales, or digital marketing or networking? How many even understand the workings of the Government and how to navigate international markets. How many business founders understand book-keeping or strategic positioning or taxes and so on. So even with the right funding, business owners need to become better at starting, running and scaling their businesses for the country to achieve its mandate for the MSME sector.
It was on the backdrop of this that the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI), the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), on November 11, 2020, launched the SME Digital Academy, in partnership with Sapphital learning Ltd to become the official Academy for educating, empowering and elevating millions of MSMEs in Nigeria and across Africa. The platform was unveiled by the Hon. Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment and has since become the platform where thousands of MSMEs are learning and gaining knowledge.
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What we Offer
1. Online Courses
Learn from other experts and experienced business owners directly on your device, from anywhere, at any time. No boundaries.
2. Digital Community
Join the SME Digital Community and experience an ecosystem where you can connect with other SMEs, mentors, sponsors and more.
3. The MarketPlace
Create your own profile on our marketplace and showcase your services to gain more sales and revenue, locally and internationally.
4. Local Languages
Nano and Micro Businesses are not left out. We also offer our courses and programmes in major Nigerian Languages.
5. Digital Boost & SME Support
Gain access to digital support including websites, mobile apps, google business tools, email marketing, social media, designs and more.
6. Lifetime Access to Resources
Continue to receive information about grant and funding opportunities, new ideas, government policies, local and global events and more.
Featured Course for the Month
Micro-Insurance for Small Businesses
Onyinye is a cook and owns a small restaurant near the motor park. She is doing well. Ademola is a plumber and has a small shop. Aisha sells Ankara materials in the market. Mama Ochuko makes meatpie and delivers to schools. They all use these businesses to make money and support their families. They are doing well. However, there is always risk in business - theft, fire, flood, accidents, injuries, and so on. These businesses are too important to families and the community for them to just suffer when something bad happens. That is why we have designed this course to teach all businesses in Nigeria how to insure and cover their businesses so when something bad happens, you will be compensated and sometimes, get you business back to where it was before. Nigeria has something called MicroInsurance and that is what this course is all about. It is one of the popular courses on our Academy as a lot of businesses are taking it and learning. It comes in English, Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa,
Watch a small part of the course.
English Version
Igbo Version
Yoruba Version
Hausa Version
How to RegisterJust 3 Simple Steps!
A few recent Partnerships
W continue to build a large ecosystem for business success in Nigeria through the SME Digital Academy. More strategic partnerships will be announced soon.
Resources
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