Investment-ready startups scarce

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) says the shortage of investment-ready startups remains one of the biggest obstacles to enterprise financing in the country, despite growing access to funding for innovative businesses.

SMEDAN said available capital remains underutilised because many startups lack the structure, scalability and business models required to attract investors, prompting efforts to strengthen entrepreneurial capacity through specialised training programmes.

The Director, Director-General’s Office, SMEDAN, Onesi-Lawani, who represented the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Charles Odii, made the disclosure at the opening of the two-week Training of Trainers programme under the Abuja Centre for Entrepreneurship Project in Abuja.

According to a statement issued on Monday by SMEDAN’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Moshood Lawal, the programme is designed to produce Abuja Centre for Entrepreneurship-certified trainers who will equip young Nigerians with the skills required to establish, grow and scale investment-ready businesses.

The statement said the agency expects the initiative to strengthen Nigeria’s entrepreneurship ecosystem by developing a new generation of innovative, technology-driven and globally competitive business owners.

“The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has charged participants at the Abuja Centre for Entrepreneurship Project’s Training of Trainers programme to become catalysts for developing a new generation of innovative, technology-driven and globally competitive Nigerian entrepreneurs,” the statement read.

Speaking at the event, Onesi-Lawani congratulated the participants, noting that the selection process was highly competitive, with more than 1,100 applications received for the programme.

He explained that the Project Management Consortium shortlisted 80 candidates across the Business Management and Artificial Intelligence tracks before conducting another round of interviews that produced the final 30 participants currently undergoing training.

According to him, Nigeria’s startup ecosystem is no longer constrained primarily by access to finance but by the limited number of businesses that meet investors’ expectations.

“Significant funding opportunities exist for Nigerian startups, but there remains a shortage of investment-ready businesses capable of attracting available capital. The participants are to focus on developing entrepreneurs with the capacity to build globally competitive and scalable enterprises,” he stated.

Onesi-Lawani identified fintech, agritech, healthtech, logistics and mobility as key sectors with strong growth prospects under the Abuja Centre for Entrepreneurship Project.

He also highlighted opportunities within the creative economy, including digital media, fashion, gaming, animation and film, describing them as sectors with the potential to produce globally competitive Nigerian enterprises.

The SMEDAN representative further noted that Nigeria remains Africa’s leading startup hub and is home to five of the continent’s eight unicorn companies, underscoring the country’s capacity to produce globally successful technology-driven businesses.

He urged the participants to leverage the knowledge gained during the training to support young entrepreneurs in building businesses capable of replicating such success stories.

The Abuja Centre for Entrepreneurship is a flagship initiative of SMEDAN implemented in partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Agency through a $12 million commitment by the South Korean Government to establish a world-class Skills Acquisition Centre in Abuja.

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