At the heart of Nigeria’s entrepreneurial landscape, a revolution is underway—one that’s poised to redefine the future of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across the nation. At the helm of this transformative wave is Charles Odii, the dynamic CEO and Director General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN). Since assuming office on October 13, 2023, Odii has been a whirlwind of innovation and advocacy, igniting initiatives that have already created 20,000 jobs and facilitated over 11 billion naira in funding for SMEs.
Central to his mission is the ‘GROW Nigerian’ strategic blueprint—a visionary plan aimed at enhancing local production, meeting domestic demand, and propelling Nigerian products onto the global stage. “GROW stands for Guidance, Resources, Opportunities, and Workforce Support, encapsulating the essential elements SMEs need to flourish”, he says. Under this strategy, SMEDAN targets eight high-potential sectors, with fashion and textile taking centre stage through the “Wear Nigerian” initiative.

He recently hosted the largest MSME Conference in Nigeria at the State Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja, bringing together thousands of small businesses for empowerment through exhibitions, masterclasses, and pitch competitions.
In this interview, we’re not just meeting a CEO— we are exploring his passion for entrepreneurship, his vision for the future of SMEs in Nigeria, and what keeps him inspired to push the boundaries of innovation.
You have an impressive background in media communications and entrepreneurship. How did your journey lead you to becoming the CEO of SMEDAN?
It was a predictable yet remarkable progression. As noted, I had done an impressive amount of work promoting entrepreneurship and supporting entrepreneurs in Nigeria and across Africa. I founded SME100Africa due to my enduring belief in the power of entrepreneurship to transform a nation. We organised events to showcase talented entrepreneurs and support them in bringing their innovations to market. We also met with government stakeholders to advocate for favourable policies and a friendly business environment. These engagements and expansive network, comprising prominent private and public actors, placed me on the radar, and I am grateful to have received the confidence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to serve as the sixth Director-General/CEO of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN). I’m also grateful to Thisday style as I remember eight years ago, precisely on August 21st 2016, we had spotlighted some young entrepreneurs in Nigeria who were doing phenomenal things and contributing to socio-economic development in Nigeria under the age of 25, and Thisday style helped us to amplify the storytelling.

Rural industrialisation is a key focus for you. What unique challenges have you encountered while driving this initiative, and how are you overcoming them?
Our infrastructure deficit is significant and requires substantial investment. We are actively engaging local and international partners to invest in production facilities closer to raw material sources across various sectors. However, this requires supporting infrastructure like quality roads, electricity, internet, healthcare and more, which directly impact production costs. As a government agency, SMEDAN manages 23 Industrial Development Centers (IDCs) nationwide, many located in rural areas. Our goal is to create jobs, develop technical expertise and eradicate poverty, but these IDCs need revitalisation to achieve rural industrialisation. We’ve begun seeking partnerships to revitalise these IDCs and make them viable. We recently partnered with UNDP to solarise our IDC in Idu, Abuja, where we have established a garment and textile hub equipped with over 100 industrial sewing machines, embroidery machines, and other modern equipment. We also have furniture workshops, recycling and packaging/branding workshops and warehouses, all with modern and functional equipment.

SMEDAN’s ‘Wear Nigerian’ initiative highlights the fashion and textile industry. What excites you the most about the future of Nigerian fashion?
I’m most excited about its vast potential for growth, job creation, and cultural export. We have local fashion brands that have built an impressive customer base in countries worldwide. The quality of their products is indistinguishable from that of high-end brands. Indeed, many of our fashion brands have integrated into the global value chain. This is why at SMEDAN, as one of our GROW Nigerian imperatives, we’ve chosen the fashion and textile industry as a key area of focus. Our goal is to increase support for fashion entrepreneurs to produce creative pieces at scale. We also want to encourage more Nigerians, including the elite, to proudly wear Nigerian brands. It gives me great satisfaction to see the faces of foreign partners light up when they compliment my outfits, including suits, and realise a Nigerian fashion brand makes them. We now have a GROW Nigerian gift box featuring fashion items from some of our most innovative fashion SMEs, which we distribute to stakeholders to promote patronage. I personally carry cards from these brands and happily distribute them at events. This sector can deliver jobs, increase our GDP, and enhance our soft power in Africa and globally.
You’ve facilitated over 11 billion naira in funding for SMEs. What advice would you give small business owners seeking to secure funding?
They should formalise their business. One of the challenges I’ve encountered as DG of SMEDAN is that many SMEs lack the structure to absorb formal funding. Many still operate informally, unregistered, with poor bookkeeping, and unable to clearly demonstrate their size and growth potential. Many conduct business transactions with their personal accounts, complicating the process of establishing their credit history. These factors affect their ability to access finance. Our 2024 informal economy report with Moniepoint revealed this. I understand that the fear and discouraging factor with registration is taxation. Thankfully, the government has granted SMEs exemptions. We are working with the Taiwo Oyedele-led Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee to eliminate nuisance taxes that deter SMEs and cause disaffection. We are engaging banks and other financial organisations to provide affordable finance to SMEs, including single-digit interest-rate loans. However, the impact of this can only be felt if SMEs are able to absorb the funds. We are working with partners to address the formalisation problem. We want to streamline the process and onboard SMEs directly in their markets and other operational domains. We are partnering with all relevant stakeholders, including local cooperatives and other clusters. I also advise them to join an association or a cooperative. That way, they can get some help for business growth and expansion.

Your passion for small business advocacy is evident. What are the most pressing issues facing Nigerian SMEs today, and how is SMEDAN addressing them?
Access to finance is a major hurdle for SMEs, partly due to a lack of formalisation. This is compounded by high production costs, infrastructure deficits, and complex regulations. To address these challenges, SMEDAN is working on multiple fronts. We provide grants and resources through programs like the Conditional Grant Scheme (CGS), One Local Government One Product (OLOP), and National Business Skills Development Initiative (NBSDI). We’re also collaborating with banks and state governments to offer dedicated SME funding with single-digit interest rates. This effort has already yielded over 11 billion naira in counterpart funding.
We also task state governments and relevant bodies to create business-friendly environments for SMEs, particularly through infrastructure investments. To encourage progress, we’ve implemented an assessment framework and publicly recognised best-performing states. This fosters healthy competition and the adoption of beneficial ideas and programs. We do this through the National Council on SMEs, where SMEDAN serves as the Secretariat under the chairmanship of the Vice President, His Excellency Senator Kashim Shettima GCON.
SMEDAN invests in Common Facility Centers to reduce production costs. For example, tailors and furniture makers at our IDC in Idu, Abuja, benefit from discounted rates on equipment, maintenance, power, and other resources. Additionally, we forge strategic partnerships to streamline regulations and lower operational costs. We are working with agencies such as CAC, NAFDAC, and others to support SMEs. Our recent partnership with NIPOST and GIG Logistics provides SMEs with discounted nationwide shipping.

The creative economy is flourishing. How do you see SMEDAN’s new Creative, Innovation, and Digital Desk empowering creators and entrepreneurs in Nigeria?
We are actively connecting SMEs to opportunities and providing the necessary resources for growth. Our goal is to support the emergence of new unicorns and ensure that our creative talents receive adequate recognition and commercial success. We want the world to ‘Watch and Listen Nigerian’.
At our recent 2024 National MSME Conference, held at the State House Banquet Hall, we staged a premiere of the second season of the “Smart Money Woman Series” by Arese Ugwu. The event was attended by prominent stakeholders and thousands of SMEs nationwide. Arese Ugwu and her crew, including Osas Ighodaro, Wande Thomas, Ryan Alabi, etc, were in attendance and participated in a panel discussion on Nigeria’s creative space. It was a demonstration of our commitment to platforming and supporting the creative economy.

We aim to protect our creatives from predatory platforms that prevent them from reaping fair benefits from their hard work. We also want to ensure their ideas receive adequate financing so they can avoid turning to predatory sources out of desperation. Our support will span various areas, including financing, production, legal and commercial negotiation, market access, etc. We will conduct training, work with partners to provide resources and contribute to developing a model that catalyses growth and unlocks opportunities.
As someone who champions women’s entrepreneurship, what specific steps are you taking to ensure women are well-represented in the Nigerian business landscape?
As the team lead at SMEDAN, I established the Women and Youth Unit and mandated a minimum of 40% representation of women in all our agency interventions and programs. We have empowered the Unit to engage partners and mobilise resources to expand our programs targeted at women, such as the Women in Self Employment Program (WISE-P program), which provides support to self-employed women. We are also working with local stakeholders and traditional institutions to address harmful beliefs and social actions that hinder women’s access to entrepreneurship opportunities. We have also begun our accelerator program for female entrepreneurs, empowering them with all the guidance, resources, opportunities, and workforce support they need to thrive in Nigeria. Also, we have established the women-owned micro business fund (WOMB), empowering female-owned business owners with financial resources for scale and expansion.
You recently organised Nigeria’s largest MSME conference. What were the standout moments for you, and what impact do you hope this event has?
The pitch competition, which got nearly 4000 entries nationwide, and ultimately produced finalists at the conference who won over 10 million naira in grants. It was a reaffirmation of our stance that the country possesses so many innovative businesses and well-driven entrepreneurs who must be supported to grow. We also had a keynote panel that featured the Honorable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite; Chairman of Metis Capital Partners, Hakeem Belo-Osagie; President of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, Jonathan Ortmans; and the Cluster Coordinator of GIZ in Nigeria, Markus Wauschkuhn. I moderated the panel, and the contributions, which touched on various issues affecting SME development in Nigeria, were insightful and informative for the attending SMEs. We also signed a partnership agreement with the Entrepreneurship Development Center, Pan Atlantic University, to train and mentor 10,000 women for free.

The event brought together government and private sector stakeholders to identify bottlenecks and foster collaboration for SME growth and development. Our export panel featured the Comptroller-General of Customs, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, who discussed streamlining export procedures for SMEs. We also had representatives from the FIRS discuss taxation. These issues are of serious concern to SMEs, and the event not only shed light on them but also helped identify actionable steps we will follow up on. The impact of SME exhibitions and Masterclasses has been phenomenal. We have small businesses now protecting themselves because they attended the masterclass on intellectual property at the event. We have small businesses now earning more because they attended the Google masterclass.
Within the conference, we also hosted the Business Development Service Providers (BDSP) summit. These are certified professionals who we have tasked with the responsibility of upskilling one million small businesses with us in the next 12 months. This impact will revolutionise the small business Ecosystem in Nigeria.
What role do partnerships with international organisations like Mastercard and UNDP play in strengthening the SME ecosystem in Nigeria?
These partnerships are crucial to our efforts to build SME capacity, increase resource access, and provide tailored solutions. We recently received support from UNDP to solarise our IDC in Idu, ensuring an uninterrupted 24/7 energy supply for SMEs operating there. We are partnering with Mastercard to provide payment solutions and innovation support to small businesses, especially those in the digital economy. Both partners also supported the 2024 National MSME Conference, which became the largest and most significant gathering of actors and stakeholders in Nigeria’s SME ecosystem.

How has your background in media communications influenced your leadership style at SMEDAN?
I practice a “leave no one behind” strategy, which prioritises inclusion through adequate information dissemination. Internally, we have revived and reformed our communication channels, adopting technological solutions where possible to ensure that every staff member is well-informed about the steps we are taking to reposition and grow the SME ecosystem.
We recently held a strategy retreat, which brought together all staff members for the first time in over 20 years since the agency’s establishment. Previously, the retreat was reserved for leadership, but I changed this trend as a communications professional who understands how perception and inclusion shape action. We are now witnessing new levels of motivation within the team. Everyone feels valued, and rightly so.
You’re known for embracing technology to improve transparency and access at SMEDAN. How do you foresee technology shaping the future of SMEs in Nigeria?
It has already caused a radical shift in how we trade and interact. At SMEDAN, we are preparing SMEs for this change and future disruptions.

We’re working with partners like Google to equip them with digital skills, tools, and resources necessary to thrive in an increasingly digital economy. Our goal is to empower Nigerian SMEs to leverage technology for efficiency, innovation, and global competitiveness.
What role do you believe Nigeria’s small businesses play in the country’s economic development, and how can we further support their growth?
Small businesses are the heartbeat of our economy, and the numbers confirm this reality. They comprise over 90% of businesses and employ more than 60 million Nigerians. To support their growth, we must intentionally create a supportive business environment. This involves providing accessible finance, streamlining regulations, developing infrastructure, and removing barriers to access. Fortunately, the current administration has made these commitments. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu strongly supports our GROW Nigerian agenda.
You’ve established units for women, youth, and green energy within SMEDAN. How do you ensure these initiatives create a long-lasting impact?
We’re collaborating with partners to unlock financing opportunities, drive reforms, and empower SMEs and entrepreneurs with innovative and disruptive products. Our Women and Youth Unit, particularly, has attracted support from forward-thinking partners who share our conviction that empowering these groups is vital for Nigeria’s long-term prosperity.
As an advocate for creativity, what parallels do you see between entrepreneurship and creative thinking, and how do you foster both?
Entrepreneurship and creative thinking are two sides of the same coin. Both require innovative problem-solving, calculated risk-taking, and adaptability. At SMEDAN, we promote this mindset by encouraging experimentation, collaboration, and design thinking. We provide resources and support for entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into tangible realities and celebrate failures as opportunities for growth.
What motivates you daily, and how do you balance your personal life and high-powered career?
What motivates me daily is the knowledge that my work at SMEDAN directly impacts the lives of millions of Nigerian entrepreneurs and creates opportunities for economic growth and empowerment. To maintain balance, I prioritise self-care. I make time for loved ones, engage in hobbies, and seek mentorship from peers who understand the demands of leadership.
How do you measure success as SMEDAN’s CEO, and what legacy would you like to leave behind?

Success for me would be leaving behind a data-driven agency that has democratised access to finance, markets, and technology for SMEs. One that has institutionalised a culture of innovation, data-driven decision-making, and continuous learning. And an agency that successfully inspired a new generation of Nigerian entrepreneurs to drive economic growth and development.
Looking ahead, what are your long-term visions for SMEDAN, and how do you plan to continue shaping the future of Nigerian entrepreneurship?
We are very focused on our GROW Nigerian agenda. GROW is an acronym: G stands for Guidance, R stands for Resources, O stands for Opportunity, and W stands for workforce support. This is our theory of change for the SME ecosystem in Nigeria. We believe that with the right amount of guidance, resources, opportunities, and workforce support, all our SMEs in Nigeria can thrive. GROW Nigerian would now drill down to our priority sectors. Eat Nigerian: focusing on our agriculture value chain.
Wear Nigerian: supporting our Fashion, garment and Textile Industries
Visit Nigerian: Tourism and Hospitality
Produce Nigerian: We focus on manufacturing and production for our small-scale entrepreneurs.
Teach and Learn Nigerian: focusing on our Education Ecosystem
Watch and Listen: Nigerian Digital Media Economy
Patronise Nigerian: connecting Buyers to Sellers, especially those in the service industry.
Digitize and Innovate: focusing on Nigerian Innovation and the new tech economy.
We want to rebuild our production capacity and support our SMEs in meeting local demands and competing in foreign markets. I strongly believe that achieving this will solve many of our current challenges.