NCC, SMEDAN Collaborate on Digital Scheme for SMEs

Emma Okonji
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has partnered the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) to establish an SME Digital Academy.

The SME Digital Academy is a public-private partnership initiative being driven by the NCC, SMEDAN, and Sapphital Learning Limited, a leading digital learning platform, essentially to provide micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) owners with digital skills to enhance their entrepreneurial skills.

The partnership also aims to equip entrepreneurs and start-ups with the necessary digital skills required to navigate the increasingly digitised world.

Speaking at the launch, which took place at the NEXIM House in Abuja recently, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, said the setting up of the scheme was based on the realisation that in today’s global economy, a borderless educational and economic system would be the next stage of the digital economy.

Represented at the launch by the NCC’s Director, Digital Economy, Dr. Austin Nwaulune, the NCC boss noted that, while the collaboration between the NCC and SMEDAN was a step towards economic diversification, digital technologies were key in the implementation of this initiative.

He said the NCC had continued to work towards providing information and communications technology (ICT) support to various sectors in the country. He noted that with over 41 million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria, proper empowerment of entrepreneurs would create an extremely-powerful impacts on the nation’s economic growth.

Danbatta said SMEs’ empowerment would also help in providing employment, lessening societal vices, developing the economy, increasing foreign exchange as well as improving the general well-being of Nigerians.

Also speaking at the event, the Director-General of SMEDAN, Dr. Dikko Radda, who was represented by the Director, Enterprise Development and Promotion at the agency, Moses Ewans, expressed delight at the partnership with the NCC, and declared that over 41.5 million MSME were domiciled in Nigeria.

Citing a recent survey, Radda noted that the entrepreneurs had contributed 49.78 per cent
The Group Chief Executive Officer, Sapphital Learning Limited, Amu Ogbeide, in his opening remarks, said his company was excited to be working with SMEDAN on the ongoing efforts to empower entrepreneurs and start-ups in the country. He also said through working with SMEDAN, Sapphital had been instrumental to the digitisation of SMEDAN’s entrepreneurial digital literacy journey.