At its maiden MSME Conference in Lagos themed “AI for SMEs: Scaling Through Digital Tools,” Access Bank Plc launched the Access SME App, an integrated digital platform designed to help small and medium-sized enterprises automate administrative tasks and scale operations.
The event featured policy disclosures from the Federal Government alongside industry figures highlighting the role of emerging tech in reaching Nigeria’s $1 trillion economic target.
Key Highlights & Policy Takeaways
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Access SME App Capabilities: Integrates core operational and financial management tools into a single platform, enabling SMEs to automate invoice generation, sales analysis, inventory tracking, and customer management.
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National AI Initiatives: Senior Special Assistant to the President on Entrepreneurship Development, Chalya Shagaya, revealed that President Bola Tinubu approved a National AI Policy and mandated the establishment of regional AI Capacity-Building Hubs under the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy.
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MSME Economic Footprint: Head of SME Banking at Access Bank, Abiodun Olubitan, and Executive Director of the UNILAG Business School, Prof. Sunday Adebisi, noted that Nigeria’s 39+ million SMEs represent roughly 96% of total businesses, contributing 48% of GDP and 84% of national employment.
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Risk Mitigation: Speakers emphasized that while AI serves as an operational partner to address high first-year failure rates (~50%), human judgment remains necessary to validate AI-generated outputs and critical financial decisions.
