By Benson Daniel
About 25,000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises across Nigeria are set to benefit from up to N20 billion in technology credits under a new partnership between Zoho and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria.
The initiative is aimed at accelerating digital adoption among small businesses by reducing the cost barriers associated with accessing cloud based business applications and providing entrepreneurs with the skills needed to use the technology effectively.
Under the programme, eligible MSMEs within the SMEDAN ecosystem will receive Zoho Wallet Credits that can be deployed across more than 60 business applications, depending on their operational needs.
The applications cover key areas of business management, including accounting, customer relationship management, communication, collaboration and other administrative functions.
Among the available tools are Zoho Books for cloud based accounting, Bigin by Zoho CRM for customer and sales management, and Zoho Workplace for business email and workplace collaboration.
The partnership goes beyond providing software credits, with participating businesses also expected to receive training sessions, practical workshops, one on one consultations and ongoing technical support.
The additional support is designed to ensure that MSMEs can effectively integrate digital tools into their daily operations rather than simply gaining access to software without the capacity to use it productively.
The initiative forms part of SMEDAN’s broader GROW Nigerian strategy, which focuses on business formalisation, access to finance and markets, improved productivity and digital adoption.
Director General of SMEDAN, Charles Odii, said digital capability had become an important part of helping small businesses move from survival to sustainable growth.
He said the partnership would give businesses within the agency’s ecosystem another practical pathway to strengthen their operations, improve productivity and expand into new markets.
The Country Head of Zoho Nigeria, Kehinde Ogundare, said access to technology alone was not enough to deliver meaningful results for small businesses.
He stressed the importance of providing entrepreneurs with the training and support required to effectively deploy digital solutions to solve operational challenges.
The partnership is expected to help participating businesses improve record keeping, customer management, financial administration, communication and other areas that can affect productivity and competitiveness.
For many Nigerian MSMEs, the cost of adopting modern business technology remains a major barrier, particularly for enterprises operating with limited capital and informal systems.
By providing technology credits and capacity building, the initiative is expected to reduce some of those barriers while encouraging more small businesses to embrace digital tools.
SMEDAN and Zoho will jointly oversee the implementation of the programme, including outreach to eligible businesses, monitoring adoption and assessing the impact of the initiative.
The partnership comes as Nigerian MSMEs continue to face pressure to improve efficiency, formalise their operations and expand their access to markets amid a challenging business environment.
The programme is therefore expected to contribute to the wider effort to build a more digitally enabled MSME sector capable of creating jobs, improving productivity and supporting sustainable economic growth.
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