Zoho, SMEDAN partner to accelerate digital transformation for 25,000 Nigerian MSMEs with up to ₦20b in wallet credits
By Eberechi Obinagwam
Zoho, a global technology company, has announced a strategic partnership with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) to improve access to affordable cloud technology for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across Nigeria.
The company in a statement on Wednesday said, the strategic partnership combines SMEDAN’s reach and mandate to promote and facilitate the development of Nigeria’s MSME sector with Zoho’s portfolio of affordable and scalable cloud-based business applications.
Through the partnership, Zoho will make available wallet credits with an aggregate value of up to ₦20 billion to a maximum of 25,000 eligible MSMEs associated with SMEDAN.
The initiative aligns with the Agency’s GROW Nigerian strategy, which prioritises formalisation, access to finance and markets, productivity and digital adoption. This includes an ongoing partnership with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to facilitate the free registration of 250,000 businesses, bringing more MSMEs into the formal economy and positioning them to access wider opportunities for growth.
“Our focus at SMEDAN is to ensure that small businesses are able to move from survival to growth and prosperity. That means helping entrepreneurs formalise, improve productivity, reach new markets and build businesses that can compete, said the Director general/CEO of SMEDAN, Charles Odii. Digital capability is now an important part of that journey, and this partnership with Zoho gives thousands of MSMEs within our ecosystem another practical pathway to strengthen how they operate and grow.”
“MSMEs are fundamental to Nigeria’s economic development, but technology can only deliver its full potential when businesses are able to access and effectively use it,” said Kehinde Ogundare, Country Head, Zoho Nigeria. “Through this partnership with SMEDAN, we are reducing the access barrier to adopting world-class business technology while providing businesses with the training, consultation and support they need to leverage cloud technology to streamline their operations, and catapult their growth. The partnership also reflects Zoho’s transnational localism strategy, which combines our global technology expertise with efforts to create self-sustaining local economic clusters. Through this approach, we aim to deepen our contribution to Nigeria’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and support the development of a more digitallyenabled and resilient MSME sector”
Eligible businesses can use Zoho Wallet Credits for accessing any of Zoho’s 60+ applications that match their operational requirements, such as Zoho Workplace, Zoho’s business email and collaboration suite; Bigin by Zoho CRM, a pipeline-centric CRM solution designed for small businesses; and Zoho Books, Zoho’s cloud accounting platform.
Beyond technology access, Zoho will provide participating MSMEs with training sessions, workshops and one-on-one business consultations throughout the partnership term, as well as ongoing technical support. These initiatives are intended to help businesses develop the practical digital capabilities required to integrate technology effectively into their operations. Zoho and SMEDAN will also work together on the implementation of the programme, including outreach to eligible businesses, and monitoring programme adoption and impact.
