Desola Jimmy-Eboma Calls for Policy Backing, Investment & Support for Small Businesses

 

Desola Jimmy-Eboma Calls for Policy Backing, Investment & Support for Small Businesses

 

 

The Founder and Convener of the Small-Scale Enterprises Lab (SSE Lab), Mrs. Desola Jimmy-Eboma, has emphasized that the future of Nigeria’s economy depends largely on the creativity, innovation, and resilience of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) across the country.

Jimmy-Eboma stated this on Thursday at the MBA Business Shower: Cohort 2 Graduation and Business Showcase held in Lagos, themed “Innovation, Inclusion, Impact: Redefining MSMEs in Nigeria’s Economy.”

According to BUSINESSINSIDERNG, the SSE Lab is a business development and empowerment platform dedicated to nurturing and growing micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) across Africa. The Lab supports entrepreneurs from idea discovery to business execution and scaling — with a strong focus on practicality, sustainability, and structure.

Jimmy-Eboma noted that empowering small business owners not only fuels their entrepreneurial dreams but also builds the foundation for sustainable prosperity for future generations.

“Today, we celebrate not just the graduation of entrepreneurs but the birth of new enterprises that will shape industries, create jobs, and contribute to Nigeria’s economic growth,” she said.

 

She explained that the Manufacturing Business Accelerator (MBA) programme was created to equip small-scale entrepreneurs with the knowledge, tools, and mentorship needed to transform ideas and side hustles into scalable, sustainable ventures.

“In just ninety days, our participants journey through discovery, validation, and execution, emerging with products ready for market and businesses ready to thrive,” she added.

 

Describing the Business Showers as more than a graduation ceremony, Jimmy-Eboma said they represent “a launchpad — where innovation meets opportunity, courage meets recognition, and small beginnings are fuelled into great enterprises.”

She called for consistent support for small business owners to enable them to grow into sustainable success stories that resonate within and beyond Nigeria.

“Together, let us continue to nurture small businesses into success stories that will echo far beyond these walls. For the SME/MSME ecosystem, it signifies a critical bridge — from vision to venture, from concept to commerce,” she said.

 

Reiterating the vital role of small businesses in economic transformation, she stressed that empowering them means building the foundation of prosperity for generations to come.

 

SMEDAN DG, NOVA Bank Exec Laud SSE Lab Initiative

Speaking earlier, the Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Dr. Charles Odii, commended the SSE Lab initiative, describing it as a timely effort to drive MSME growth across the country.

Represented by the agency’s South-West Coordinator, Olukayode Shode, Odii said Nigeria’s economy needs more innovative ideas and platforms that promote sustainability among small businesses.

“We must go beyond mere words and move to action in developing the MSME ecosystem. The more we put our hands on deck, the more we can achieve for MSMEs in Nigeria,” he said.

 

Also speaking, the Head, Retail & SME Banking at NOVA Bank, Esther Obiekwe, stated that Nigeria’s economic resilience lies not in oil but in the entrepreneurial diversity of its people.

She emphasized that each time an MSME scales, exports a product, or substitutes an import, Nigeria takes a step closer to self-sufficiency.

“Every MSME empowered represents jobs created, families sustained, and communities transformed,” Obiekwe noted.

 

She highlighted that MSMEs account for over 90% of businesses, 80% of employment, and contribute nearly half of Nigeria’s GDP, yet continue to face major challenges such as limited access to finance, poor infrastructure, and regulatory bottlenecks.

According to Obiekwe, NOVA Bank is committed to supporting entrepreneurs through financial literacy, mentorship, and accessible credit, adding that inclusion and innovation are at the heart of the bank’s SME strategy.

“Inclusion is the bridge between potential and participation. Women, youth, and informal-sector entrepreneurs represent untapped economic energy. When we include them, we expand national productivity,” she said.

 

She added that the bank’s simplified account opening process, gender-sensitive loan products, and partnerships — such as the one with SSE Lab — demonstrate its belief that “inclusion is not charity; it is smart economics.”