Business

SMEDAN supports 60 BMOs, NGOs with N500,000 grants in Kaduna

Published

4 years ago

October 12, 2021

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) on Tuesday in Kaduna supported 60 Business Membership Organisations (BMOs) and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) with N500,000 grants each.

The Director-General (DG) of SMEDAN, Dr. Dikko Radda, said the grant was to support the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through BMOs, NGOs and trade associations by strengthening their capacities.

The DG, represented by SMEDAN North West Zonal Coordinator, Alhaji Ahmed Madaki, explained that strengthening the capacities of MSMEs in different sectors of the economy through the BMOs and NGOs would reduce business mortality, improve living standards and reduce poverty.

The DG noted that in recent past, over 60 BMOs, NGOs and trade associations with about 600 members had benefited from the programme, which had the objective to enhance their governance structure and general financial management.

“It is also aimed at financial independence of the BMOs and NGOs, with strong resource base for sustainability and effective succession plan.

“The agency is injecting innovative ideas to transform the MSMEs through tailored made programmes designed to combat the alarming rate of unemployment among Nigerians and deal with the negative effects of COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

Earlier, the Manager, Kaduna Office of SMEDAN, Alhaji Badamasi Barau, said growth and grant strategy being one of the policies of the agency served as multiplier means to people and organizations with larger numbers of membership.

“Calling on them to come and we develop their capacities and also give them grants for their businesses is one of our commitments.

“The grants for NGOs who are non-profit making organizations, will enable them make peoples businesses better”, he said.

One of the BMOs and a beneficiary of the grant, Aminu Lere, who represented the Kaduna Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, said the grants would be shared judiciously among the selected MSMEs under their chamber.

“We will share the money to the MSMEs who we know need the grants more, even though some of them are not here at the capacity building, we will go back to the chamber and do the needful.

“As a chamber, we follow up and see progress made by the MSMEs under us, we have a membership of over 1000 businesses, the grant is a step forward in addressing some of the challenges faced by MSMEs, “Lere said

Also, Hajiya Kaltume Kabir, representative of an NGO, Annihilation Poverty for Women and Children Foundation, said the grant would go a long way in assisting their programmes.

“Initially, we funded our programmes with our personal incomes, this grant will enable us enhance the business prospects of the category of business owners we will reach out to,” she said.

It will be recalled that, reports that first phase of the programme took place in Lagos State on Sept. 28 and 30

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Business

TAJBank Emerges Nigeria’s Biggest Non-Interest Bank

Published

1 week ago

October 23, 2025

The Gleamer

Cyril Ogar

After five years of operations in Nigeria’s rapidly evolving non-interest banking (NIB) space, TAJBank Limited has become the biggest player in the NIB subsector based on its total assets and gross earnings values.

Disclosing this during his paper presentation on the key performance indices in the non-interest banking space over the past few years at a seminar organized by Leaders Corporate Services with the theme “Roles of Non-Interest Banks In SMEs’ Financing” for SME entrepreneurs yesterday in Abuja, an investment expert, Mr. Olabode Akeredolu-Ale, maintained that based on the non-interest banks’ approved financial statements for the half year 2025, TAJBank currently remained the biggest in terms of its total assets.

The expert, a chartered stockbroker, specifically confirmed that his recent investment researches on the NIBs and their financial performances showed that TAJBank, with its total assets rising to N1.017 trillion in half year 2025 up from N953.098 billion as of December 2024, which is about N53 billion higher than the nearest NIB’s assets, now ranked top in the banking subsector.

According to him, TAJBank’s gross earnings for H1 2025 also surged to N53.752 billion from N32.86 billion as of December 2024, representing a 64% growth, and higher than the nearest NIB’s gross earnings in the period under review.

This is even as he disclosed that on the NIBs’ earnings per share during the half year, TAJBank reported N61.36 kobo earnings per share, about 92% higher than the earnings per share of the next NIB during the period.

Akeredolu-Ale, who is also a chartered accountant, clarified: “The figures I am reeling out here on the NIBs are sourced from the banking and capital market regulatory institutions’ platforms, which anyone can access to verify.

“I am part of this event because of my research interest in non-interest banking and how the players in the subsector in Nigeria can help to leverage their competencies in innovation and ethical banking to support our MSMEs.

“Today, the MSMEs cannot access DMBs’ loans due to high lending rates and other inclement macroeconomic factors. This is where I think the NIBs have become very crucial to Nigeria’s economic growth.

“Overall, my findings on the NIBs indicated that they are all trying their best with non-interest loans to support entrepreneurs, particularly the MSMEs owners. I have advised those of them at this seminar to explore the cost-friendly financing options of the NIBs to grow their businesses by opening accounts with the NIBs”, the expert added.

Another speaker at the event, Benjamin Chukwudi, also commended the NIBs for their “catalytic roles in helping SMEs to access interest-free loans and providing them the needed financial management advisory, which have been helping them in sustaining their operations in the face of rising cost of doing business in the country.”

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