***Appoints Jaiz Bank as financial partner
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has launched the GROW Fund scheme to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with access to affordable financing for their businesses.
The agency said it appointed Jaiz Bank PLC to manage the financing scheme targeted at expanding
access to affordable financing for 6,122 entrepreneurs who have completed the training and entrepreneurship development programme under the inspire, create, start and scale (ICSS) initiative.
At the official unveiling of the GROW Fund scheme for ICSS trainees, the Director General of SMEDAN, Charles Odii, said other partners in the scheme include the German Cooperation through GIZ, Kaduna Business School, GOPA worldwide consultants.
Speaking at the ceremony in Abuja, Mr Odii said the initiative signals a significant shift from routine training to a more structured support framework that directly links capacity building to single-digit interest loans and asset financing.
“Everywhere you go, you see small businesses. Many of them have received training through several capacity development initiatives.
“To ensure that training meets capital, SMEDAN took the ICSS scheme to find solutions to the complaint by the banks that they have money, but our trainees have not been equipped enough to unlock the funding.
“So, SMEDAN has set up a standardized training for small businesses, and when they’re done, they can now unlock financing,” he said.
“We know that financing in this part of the country is very expensive and very scarce. So, SMEDAN is making available affordable financing at single-digit for small businesses to enable them to grow,” he added.
The representative of the Embassy of Germany in Abuja who is also the First Secretary and Head of Cooperation, Dr Karin Jansen, commended SMEDAN for providing leadership to other partners in the development and implementation of the ICSS programme across Lagos Edo, Ogunye, Niger, Plateau States as well as the Federal Capitàl Territory, Abuja.
Jansen said the scheme was designed as a modular entrepreneurship pathway to meet the needs of small businesses at different stages of their development, from inspiration and business creation to sustainable growth and scaling.
She expressed excitement that the programme has been successfully institutionalised within Nigerian structures through SMEDAN and Kaduna Business School, thereby ensuring sustainability, national ownership and long-term continuity.
With 52 accredited training organizations currently delivering ICSS, coupled with the establishment of the ICSS Institute in Abuja by SMEDAN, she said the programme has continued to expand its reach nationwide.
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She disclosed that so far, the German government through the GIZ, in partnership with the ICSS National Steering Committee, Kaduna Business School and SMEDAN, has committed about N50m as dedicated loan facility managed by Jàiz Bank.
The loan to facility, she said, offers between N250,000 and N2m to starters, and between N1m and N5m for scale beneficiaries, with about 50 beneficiaries, particularly women and young entrepreneurs, expected to receive financing during the pilot phase.
The Chief Executive Officer of Jaiz Bank Plc, Dr Haruna Musa, described the scheme as a catalyst for innovation, job
creation and sustainable economic development.
Represented by General Manager of the Bank, Idris Ahmed, Musa said the fund represents more than a financial intervention, as it symbolizes a renewed
commitment by the Bank and other stakeholders to empower entrepreneurs and promote inclusive growth.
“At Jaiz Bank, we firmly believe that sustainable economic growth must be inclusive. Empowering small businesses
remains central to our non-interest banking model,” he said.
MSMEs, he pointed out, play a critical role in job creation, grassroots economic
transformation and innovation, adding that the GROW Fund scheme would provide entrepreneurs with the resources required to unlock their potential and build resilient enterprises capable of
contributing meaningfully to national development.
Musa commended SMEDAN for spearheading the ICSS programme and for working to address the structural gaps that have long limited MSMEs’ access to financing.
He urged beneficiaries to deploy the funds strategically to expand operations, create employment and strengthen
business sustainability.
During the event, some of the 100 beneficiaries selected to receive the loan packages were presented their cheques.
