The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has unveiled the Grow Fund for Small Businesses in Nigeria, a ₦500 million zero-interest revolving loan scheme. Announcing the initiative during a direct outreach with market traders, SMEDAN Director-General Charles Odii stated that the fund was specifically created to bypass high interest rates, steep collateral demands, and stringent lending requirements that traditionally lock small-scale entrepreneurs out of commercial bank credit. The zero-interest capital is intended to help micro-retailers scale up by boosting working capital, acquiring modern machinery, and securing formal production spaces.
To ensure strict accountability and higher loan recovery rates, SMEDAN is deviating from historical disbursement methods by routing the funds through registered trade and business associations rather than directly to individuals. Under this peer-managed framework, the associations will oversee the distribution and repayment collections from their members. As a revolving fund, all recovered capitals will be continuously recycled into the facility, establishing a self-sustaining pool of liquidity designed to gradually expand financing access to thousands of underserved MSMEs nationwide.
