E-Business
The Role of the Government in Supporting SMEs for Economic Growth
By Adewale A. Adeyipo
The Government at various levels has in one way or the other focused on the performance of SMEs for economic gains and growth. While some Government in developed economies like the US & China had formulated policies aimed at improving and empowering the growth and development of the SMEs.
In China, State Owned Enterprises (SOE) were transformed into small and medium Non-SOEs, which provided an opportunity for more SMEs to be established in China. This approach of Non-SOE promotion policy led to the development of more SMEs, which contributed to China’s economic growth.
They make up over 99% of all enterprises in China today, while the output value of SMEs accounts for at least 60% of the country’s GDP and generates more than 82% of employment opportunities in China. (According to China Statistical Yearbook).
However, other Government focus on assisting SMEs to grow through soft loans and other fiscal incentives to promote the socio-economic development of the country like poverty alleviation, youth unemployment, human capital development, and improve the social welfare of the people.
For example, in China, the World Bank offered support through enhancing access to finance for underserved micro and small enterprises with US$100 Million in IBRD financing, including both lending and technical assistance. Before the project began, about 20,000 micro and small loans were disbursed to MSME clients in 40 branches per year, but by the project’s completion at the end of 2010, more than 60,000 loans were issued in a year — tripling the supply of credit to small businesses. Over three years, US$2.3 billion in MSME loans were distributed through recipient Chinese financial institutions.
The Bigger Problem
Nigeria’s population, according to the UN, stands at approx. 200M with a median age of 18, which implies the Nigeria youth represents 42.54% of the total population. According to Trading Economics, the unemployment rate in the last 5 -10 years has continuously grown by 4% and was 23.1% as at the previous report generated in Q3 of 2018.
Also noteworthy is the fact that approx. 500,000 youths graduate yearly with 47% of these graduate’s unemployable (Jobberman Reports). The Government is consistently finding it challenging to match the skills of these graduates to the available jobs in the market which in turn puts more pressure on the nation’s dependency rate of 88.2% (Trading Economics).
One may suggest that to address this employability gap and high dependency rate is to engage our technical schools actively and also revisit the curriculum of our institutions. Many have argued on the suitability of the faculties responsible for transferring knowledge to the students in today’s VUCA world. Not so much about the technical understanding of it, but more on the practicality of the same knowledge outside the walls of the classrooms.
Sadly, the fact is that these institutions are not enough and ill-equipped. While the Government has only been able to establish 156 approved technical schools (NBTE Reports) across the 36 states with an average of 4 technical schools per state, these statistics show that the technical schools available can’t match the current population of Nigerian graduates (500,000/year).
How then can we engage unskilled laborers when providing jobs for graduates is still a major challenge? Can the Government establish more technical schools to accommodate the skilled and unskilled? (That’s a discussion for another day).
The World Bank has estimated annual growth of 2.6% of the Nigerian population, while the unemployment rate was recorded to be at 23.1% in Q4, 2018. Trading economics predicted that there will be a 4% YOY in unemployment in Nigeria. The math is simple; if all variables remain constant, the 4% YOY increase in 6 years would have resulted in an unemployment rate of 29.02%. This scenario would lead to an increase in crime rate, political instability, exploitation of labor, increase in poverty, and social problems.
However, one of the quickest solution to this futuristic problem of unemployment is to integrate SME skills program as a curriculum in our early years of schooling, build more technical schools to reduce dependency rate, improve on existing infrastructure (good road, rail network & power generation), encourage more public-private partnership policies, introduce policies that guides SMEs to excel.
The Nigerian Government through her many agencies like the NIPC, SMEDAN, and FIRS can enhance their engagements with the MSMEs, and also create central policies where SMEs are allowed to showcase their products/services and sell to the global market while ensuring adherence to the international standard.
It is quite important to note that the financial sector also plays a significant role in the sustainability of SMEs as they are a major player in providing loans to SMEs. Just as reported by Techpoint, Oyapay, a Fintech start-up company, shut down due to a case of a family investment gone wrong. This approach shows that Start-ups often depending on family members as a source for funding, isn’t a sustainable model.
Technological Innovation
In spite of globalization, an important section of developing countries’ SMEs operationalizes business the conventional way. This results in a low level of productivity, low-quality of products, and exploring to a small and local market. It is noted that generally, SMEs tend to have low productivity and as a result, are weak when competing.
This is the result of using conventional technology and not having the maximum utility of machinery. Due to the limitation of funding and innovation, it may not be possible for them to improve their processes. However, policies can be implemented to guide SMEs on adopting the use of technology.
Infrastructure (Road, Rail Network & Power)
Poor infrastructure is a major frustration for SMEs trying to get on with their jobs; be its poor-quality broadband; it is stopping a small business from operating more online or rural firms finding it harder to move around because of poor roads and public transport.
Poor and deteriorating infrastructure can pose severe damage on business growth and viability, hence the lack of such amenities has led to extremely high cost of operating businesses in Nigeria. Other factors like; cost of sourcing for raw materials, transportation, internet services and finished products all add up, often leading to the provision of poor service delivery rendered to customers just for the business to keep afloat and possibly break even.
Thus, adequate and basic infrastructure can act as a catalyst for economic growth beyond the usual ease it provides. A good example is the establishment of the IPP project launched at Sura-Shopping Complex, Simpson road in Lagos Island. A project handled by Rural Electrification Authority under the Office of the Vice President of Nigeria. The initiative was very basic, focused on providing regular and reliable power supply to the over 1,000 shops and offices within Sura-Shopping Complex.
Upon the commencement of this project, it was observed that beyond the power supply, more jobs were created due to an uninterrupted power supply at the complex. The offices and business owners could almost immediately afford to employ more hands, do shifts (including night shifts) for more production. Initiatives like this would further encourage SMEs and as well as improve our ease of doing business index.
Workable Models for SMEs Funding
One viable model I have seen is the way some of the Micro Finance Institution dispense loan. The Group-lending model requires individuals to form a group of five and receive five-days financial training to obtain a loan from the lending Institution.
The emphasis from the very outset is to strengthen the SMEs organisationally and to build their capacity to plan and implement micro-level development decisions. (Grameen Group Lending Model).
The Government can thereby adopt this approach and provide loan to a group of different clusters of SMEs based on their demographics, business type, location and the raw materials required to run those businesses. Other lending models can also then be adopted here.
Many would say such initiatives will not be successful in Nigeria going by the previous experience of bad debts, unaccountability, lack of adequate records, and poor or lack of identity management systems. My assumption is the same, however, one begs to wonder if the community lending Initiative could make a difference which allows one to be responsible for another?
For instance; one can only qualify for loans if my fellow community members are fruitful in the commitment to repayment. Then there is bound to be an exponential growth in the SME sector when each member depends on another to grow. Currently, for some of the micro-finance companies – these clusters can only qualify for a bigger loan after repayment.
In my days in the FMCG sector, working at the production line, a bonus is received when targets are met as a group and not as individuals. As the goals are met as a group, this qualifies the group to be engaged with a bigger task as they continue to grow as a unit. Is this method applicable to the SMEs?
The TraderMoni initiative, for example, is focused on providing loans for petty traders that are unbanked but require access to funds to run their small businesses. Corporate Finance Houses might not be able to capture these set of the population due to their locations, lack of interest to own a bank account or the knowledge gap on why being financially included is vital to them.
TraderMoni can advance to the next stage on requirements where traders would only qualify for their next loan when they have successfully registered a bank account to their name through USSD service. Would such an initiative improve financial inclusion? I believe so.
Government Agencies like the SMEDAN; are responsible for initiating and articulating policy ideas for small and medium enterprises growth and development. If they further enrich their database, FDI inflows may grow based on credible and available data showing the opportunity for growth.
The Government’s form of supporting SMEs doesn’t necessarily have to be financial support all the time; as Government can even lease equipment to a group of farmers in community X as a service for five years. This support would promote the effective use of these equipment’s and drive more farmers to make the best use of the time allotted to them.
NISRAL, a CBN initiative founded in 2013 currently executes the equipment-as-a-service model for farmers in rural areas. The major advantage with this initiative is that every member of such a group depends on each other to ensure the funds being received are used for its real purpose while profit generated is channeled back into the business.
SMEs in Nigeria
In Nigeria, the importance of SMEs in the process of social and economic development cannot be neglected, and its significance in the development of the country.
It was summarized in Nigeria’s third National Development Plan, 1975-1980; as the generation of employment opportunities, stimulation of indigenous entrepreneurship, facilitation of effective mobilization of local resources including capital and skill as well as a reduction in regional disparities.
Despite the slow growth of SMEs development, Impact of SMEs has been a known fact dated back as 1975!
The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) statistics revealed that 99.7 percent of U.S. businesses are SMEs. However, there are several barriers that the US SME sector still faces, especially in commodities.
The significant barriers to trading include insufficient access to finance, high transportation costs, tax laws, and rules, maintaining profitability, developing new products, language, and cultural differences. Gaps like these signify no SME ecosystem is perfect, and they are required to keep evolving with time as new challenges arise. Despite the challenges in the SMEs market in the US, the sectors still contribute 47% of total employment.
While in developing economies like India, the contribution of the SME sector to manufacturing output, employment, and exports of the country is quite significant. It is noted that regarding the value, the SME sector of India accounts for 45% of the manufacturing output and 40% of the total exports. India’s SME sector employs around 42 million people in over 13 million units throughout the country. (Source: Department of Commerce, Govt. of India)
Conclusion
It is evident from my article that SMEs contribution is considerably high in economic development whether it is a developed country or developing country. Not only financially subsidized promotion is essential, but the strategic implementation becomes vital for sustainable development of the SME sector. Strategic implementation takes care of financial aspects, human resource, marketing, research and development, technology, and corporate governance in the SME sector.
SMEs in developed Nations are not only relying on Credit availability but Technological Innovation and Infrastructural Policies. Hence, it is critical for Policymakers to create an enabling and sustainable environment as a bedrock for SMEs to flourish. Great to recall the words of Richard Branson; “A business starts small”.
Adewale A. Adeyipo, Ag. Group managing director, CWG plc,
At the recent Cyber Security Weekend – META event, Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) experts presented the latest findings on the cyberespionage threat landscape across the Middle East, Turkiye, and Africa (META) region.
While most cyberthreat categories declined over the past year, cyberespionage continued to intensify in the region. Thus, throughout the past year, spyware attacks increased by 40% in Africa, while password stealer attacks grew by 31% in Africa.
The cyberespionage landscape across the META region continues to be driven by geopolitical tensions, regional conflicts and ideological motivations. As intelligence gathering becomes increasingly important for both Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actors and cybercriminals, organisations and individuals alike are facing a growing number of attacks designed to steal sensitive information and establish long-term access to compromised systems.
If we specifically look at cyberthreats aimed at businesses, organisations in Africa experienced a sharp increase in espionage-related threats over the past year. Spyware detections rose by 16% in Africa, password stealer attacks by 51%, and backdoor detections by 23%.
These types of malware are commonly used to infiltrate corporate environments, steal confidential information, establish persistent access, and facilitate subsequent stages of targeted attacks.
As geopolitics remains a key driver for APT attacks, such actors remain among the most significant cyber risks in the region for businesses and governmental entities.
To maximise persistence and evade detection, they continuously refine their toolsets, deploying increasingly sophisticated malware capable of maintaining long-term access to compromised systems while collecting valuable intelligence.
In 2026, Kaspersky GReAT is tracking more than 20 APT groups actively targeting organisations across the META region.
Recent research by Kaspersky GReAT found the MuddyWater APT group targeting organisations across the Middle East during the Gulf conflict using previously unseen malware chains.
The campaign employed custom loaders, injectors, previously unknown remote access trojans (RATs), credential stealers, and a modular data exfiltration framework, highlighting the group’s rapid development of new tools to steal sensitive information and evade detection.
The increase in espionage activity is not limited to organisations. Individuals are also increasingly targeted. Over the past year, attacks involving password stealers increased by 32% in Africa. The stolen information can subsequently be used to hijack accounts, conduct follow-on attacks, extort victims, or sold to third parties on underground marketplaces.
Another rapidly growing trend is mobile cyberespionage. As smartphones increasingly store personal communications, corporate information, authentication credentials, and financial data, they have become high-value targets for attackers.
“Smartphones have become one of the most valuable sources of intelligence for cyberespionage actors. While Android devices continue to be widely targeted by mobile spyware, we are also observing an increasing number of reports of sophisticated campaigns targeting iOS, as demonstrated by Operation Triangulation and, more recently, Coruna attacks.
“These findings show that advanced mobile threats continue to evolve across both major platforms, making mobile security an essential part of cyber resilience for both organisations and individuals,” said Dmitry Galov, Head of Global Research and Analysis Team, Russia and CIS, at Kaspersky.
As cyberespionage threats continue to evolve, Kaspersky recommends that organisations adopt a layered cybersecurity approach, combining continuous vulnerability management, timely patching, employee awareness training, threat intelligence, and advanced security solutions such as Kaspersky Next, which help detect sophisticated targeted attacks and protect organisations from long-term compromise.
E-Business
82% of Organizations Concerned about AI Risks Even as Adoption Accelerates – Survey Reveals
At its recent Cyber Security Weekend for the Middle East, Turkiye and Africa (META) region Kaspersky shared the results of a global study conducted by its internal research center which surveyed 1,800 IT and cybersecurity decision-makers and specialists from organisations across 18 countries and multiple industries.
The report shows that the pace of AI integration across organisations is rapid, despite associated risks. The company’s experts stressed that while AI adoption delivers clear efficiency gains, it must be accompanied by robust cybersecurity solutions, well-defined internal procedures, and comprehensive employee education programmes.
The report highlights a clear organisational preference for AI-enhanced technology: 68% of respondents said they would recommend a solution with AI features built in, while a mere 5% indicated they would prefer to avoid AI-enabled tools. This overwhelming endorsement underscores how deeply AI has embedded itself as a value driver across the modern enterprise.
AI has become a mainstream productivity tool spanning many business functions. The global survey findings confirm that employees across departments are already relying on AI tools for a wide range of everyday tasks, including: data analysis & visualisation (54%), project management (49%), search for information (47%), department-specific tasks (46%), text generation and editing (41%).
While organisations recognise the tangible benefits AI tools bring – including improved process efficiency and enhanced quality of deliverables – they also see the associated dangers. 82% of respondents voiced concerns about the risks AI poses to their organisation. These concerns are grounded in real-world experience.
Among the 87% of organisations worldwide that faced a cyber incident in the past year, 13% reported that they had experienced threats stemming specifically from AI-related vulnerabilities.
Notably, 74% of respondents believe that these risks can be effectively mitigated through employees’ responsible behaviour — pointing to the critical importance of security awareness and training in the AI era.
“The speed at which organisations are embracing AI is remarkable, but it must be matched with an equally strong commitment to security. We are already seeing a growing range of threats directly tied to AI adoption – whether it’s malware camouflaged as popular AI tools, vulnerabilities introduced through unsecure vibecoding, or leaked access credentials to corporate AI platforms and malicious skills by AI agents.
Managing these risks requires a holistic approach: the right technology, well-defined procedures, and a security-aware workforce,” comments Brandon Muller, senior security consultant for the META region at Kaspersky.
E-Business
How Temu Helped a Madagascan Vanilla Family Business Sell Direct to Consumers Across Europe
Malagasy Vanilla has transformed its decades-old wholesale business by embracing direct-to-consumer sales through Temu, enabling the family-run company to reach customers in 14 European markets while significantly reducing logistics costs.
For years, premium Madagascan vanilla supplier Malagasy Vanilla sold exclusively to restaurants, bakeries and wholesalers because the cost of shipping a single pack to individual customers often equalled the value of the product itself. That changed after the company joined Temu’s Local Seller Program in November 2025.
The Belgian-based business, which sources high-quality vanilla from Madagascar, has leveraged Temu’s logistics network to cut domestic shipping costs by nearly half through a partnership with Belgian postal operator Bnode. The move has enabled the company to enter the retail market for the first time and quadruple its sales within four months.
According to Belinda Rabenandrasana, co-Chief Executive Officer of Malagasy Vanilla, Temu has opened up an entirely new customer segment for the company.
“Temu opened a new avenue for us,” she said. “We were finally able to explore selling to individuals.”
The platform now contributes between five and 10 per cent of the company’s overall revenue.
Expansion into 14 European Markets
Malagasy Vanilla is among businesses participating in Temu’s Local Seller Program, launched in Europe in 2024 to help local merchants expand beyond their domestic markets.
Through partnerships with more than 150 logistics providers across Europe—including Bnode in Belgium, La Poste in France and DHL Group in Germany—Temu offers sellers access to affordable shipping and delivery infrastructure without requiring major investment in logistics.
After successfully establishing direct-to-consumer sales in Belgium, Malagasy Vanilla expanded into 14 European countries, including Germany, France, Spain and Poland.
Rabenandrasana said the logistics support, competitive shipping rates and seller assistance provided by Temu made the expansion possible.
“Without Temu and its partnership with Bnode, it would have been very difficult for a small business like ours to start selling directly to consumers,” she said.
She added that Temu also assists sellers in managing regulatory requirements such as the European Union’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) compliance, making cross-border operations easier for small businesses.
Three Generations of Vanilla Expertise
Malagasy Vanilla traces its roots to three generations of the Rabenandrasana family in Madagascar’s vanilla industry.
Belinda’s grandfather began trading vanilla locally, while her father expanded operations across Madagascar. She launched the company’s international business in 2017, supplying premium Madagascan vanilla to European restaurants, pastry shops and food wholesalers before establishing operations in Belgium in 2023.
The company partners with growers and producer associations in Madagascar, where between 20 and 40 workers oversee the six- to 10-month curing process that transforms green vanilla pods into premium black vanilla.
Operations in Belgium focus on packaging, quality assurance and distribution.
Customer Reviews Drive Growth
Under its Lavani brand, Malagasy Vanilla sells gourmet-grade whole vanilla pods targeted at both professional chefs and home baking enthusiasts.
Rather than relying heavily on paid advertising, the company has benefited from Temu’s product discovery tools and customer reviews, helping the niche brand gain visibility organically.
According to Rabenandrasana, strong customer feedback has played a significant role in increasing traffic and boosting sales.
The brand currently maintains a customer review rating exceeding 99 per cent on the platform.
Future Plans
Looking ahead, Malagasy Vanilla plans to expand its European footprint further by establishing a warehouse in France and increasing sales across the continent.
The company is also developing new products, including vanilla extract and vanilla sugar, while planning to open a physical retail and production facility in Belgium later this year.
In addition, it intends to launch a social-impact initiative aimed at supporting vanilla-growing communities in Madagascar.
Reflecting on the company’s evolution, Rabenandrasana said the business continues to build on her family’s legacy.
“My grandfather worked locally, my father expanded nationally, and now we are building internationally,” she said.
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