SMEDAN Loan has been known to be one of the softest loan opportunities for businesses today, which has helped many young entrepreneurs to achieve their business goals without frustration.

One of the major problems faced by small businesses in Nigeria today is lack of sponsorship or difficulty in accessing loans for business. researches show that only 4.2% out of the 17.2 million MSMEs in Nigeria, have access to loans; and this was why SMEDAN was established to help solve this menace.

There are actually many Federal Government loans for small business in Nigeria today, which are being handled by different agencies; but SMEDAN loan is being facilitated by The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN).

What Is Smedan Loan All About?

SMEDAN was established in 2003 by the Government of Nigeria, to promote the development of the MSME (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises) sector of the Nigeria Economy.

The important point I would want to let you know is that SMEDAN is not the one that gives loan most times, rather SMEDAN is Government agency that works as middle man between loan institutions and business owners that may need loans for their business.

This is because most financial institutions that give loans in Nigeria may not really know the reliable business owners to give loans, and hence don’t always like to give loans directly to business owners. So, SMEDAN now works as a middle man that receives these loans from the loan institutions and gives them out to only qualified and trusted business owners.

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Financial Institution That Partner With SMEDAN

Whenever people hear about SMEDAN loan, they may think that the loans are always coming directly from SMEDAN. But just as has been said earlier, loans don’t actually come directly from SMEDAN, there are some financial institutions that give loans to entrepreneurs through the SMEDAN.

SMEDAN is primarily concerned with entrepreneurship training and business development, with the disbursement of loans that are being handled by other institutions.

Aside loans from Public/Government institutions, SMEDAN also assist small businesses in accessing loans from private sectors like: commercial banks, finance houses and microfinance banks.

So, some of these financial institutions that give loans in Nigeria which SMEDAN works with; are:

1. Bank Of Industry (BOI)
2. Bank Of Agriculture (BOA)
3. Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), etc…

1. Bank Of Industry (BOI)

Bank of industry which is one of the oldest and largest financial institutions in Nigeria. BIO which started Operating in 1959 as the Investment Corporation of Nigeria (ICON) Limited, was later reconstructed in 2001 with the sole mission of Providing financial assistance for medium and small enterprises.

2. Bank Of Agriculture (BOA)

BOA is another financial institution in Nigeria that was established to provide credit facilities especially for agricultural entrepreneurs.

This institution which was initially known as Nigerian Agricultural Bank (NAB), was incorporated in 1972 and was later rebranded as Bank of Agriculture (BOA) in 2010.

SMEDAN Loan Requirement

SMEDAN loan is made very accessible that any business owner in Nigeria is eligible to apply and get loans without necessarily having the so-called long leg (connection with people).

For you to able to access SMEDAN loan, here are the Smedan Loan Requirement:

1. You must be a Nigerian
2. You must have a business or a realistic business idea

For example: If BOI wants to give out loans through the SMEDAN, their requirements may be different from when BOA wants to give out loans.

But in each case, SMEDAN would always make the requirements known to entrepreneurs.

Secrets

To increase the chance of qualifying for SMEDAN loan, there is need you register and attend entrepreneurship training course with SMEDAN.

This is because, SMEDAN cannot just receive loans from loan institutions and disburse them to people they don’t trust would manage the money judiciously.

This is why they are always training entrepreneurs on what they need to know about business, so that they would be able to use the loans effectively should they be given any.

So, it then means that SMEDAN always have a higher trust for entrepreneurs that have gone through business training courses with them.

So, for you to increase your chances of accessing SMEDAN loan, there would be need you consider enrolling in some of their entrepreneurship trainings, because that’s the best way you would be most recognized by SMEDAN.

Most times, at the successful completion of a business training, SMEDAN might even decide to give out conditional grants to qualified participants.

But even if they prefer to give out loans instead of grants, the joy is that SMEDAN loan is always very soft, with very low interest rate.

SMEDAN Loan Registration

Loan opportunities are not always available, there are times that loans would be available, and there are times that there won’t be any available loan to apply.

But information about available loans are always provided on the SMEDAN official website; and this is why you should always check your SMEDAN login portal or the SMEDAN official website to know when there is any loan available for you to apply.

So, to apply for SMEDAN loan:

1. Visit SMEDAN official website or login to your SMEDAN portal
2. Click on News or programme section to see if there is any available loan opportunity
3. Choose any available loan you like
4. Read the requirements and follow the specific loan guidelines and fill out the Smedan Loan Application form

Remember that SMEDAN certificate or SMEDAN number is very important for SMEDAN loan registration. Meanwhile for you to get your SMEDAN certificate of registration, you must have to register your business on SMEDAN registration portal.

How To Register Your Business With SMEDAN

If you have been wondering how to get SMEDAN number, then just know that the SMEDAN number is usually contained in the SMEDAN certificate of registration; and for you to get these, you must have to register your business with SMEDAN.

To register your business with SMEDAN:

1. Visit SMEDAN registration portal Here
2. Scroll down and locate “register” at the down left corner of the page.
3. Click on “Register”
4. Enter business name
5. Enter your Phone number
6. Enter your email address
7. Create your password
8. Verify your password by retyping it.
9. Click on NEXT to move to Business Information section
10. Enter your business Name
11. Enter your business phone number
12. Enter the Date your business started
13. Enter your business address
14. Enter your business website (if any)
15. State your business type (Limited Liability, Partnership, Sole Proprietorship, others)
16. State the main Product or Service your business offers
17. Select business registration status (Yes/No)
18. Select the assets value of your business
19. State how many employees you have.
20. Click on next and continue the processes.

How To Login To Your SMEDAN Dashboard

After you have successfully registered your business with SMEDAN, an email containing your SMEDAN registration certificate with SMEDAN number would be sent to you in your email.

From there, you can actually download your SMEDAN certificate, and as well get your SMEDAN number without visiting any office. The certificate is always available on your dashboard, so even if you lose it, you can still go back to your dashboard to retrieve it.

So, to login to your SMEDAN dashboard:

1. Visit the SMEDAN registration portal Here
2. Scroll down and locate “Login” at the down left corner of the page
3. Click the “Login”
4. Enter your SMEDAN registration number and your password
5. Hit the “sign in” button.

Just as I have stated earlier, SMEDAN registration certificate is not really the only requirement for SMEDAN loan registration; you also need to have your business registered with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is the major agency responsible for business registration, company incorporation, and others, in Nigeria.

Before now, registering a business with CAC was really a night mare, as you would have to pass through several unbearable processes.

But due to the the recent upgrade, it is now possible to stay at your comfort home and register your business with CAC using your phone/computer without having to visit any office.

After getting several questions from our readers on how to go about this easier way of getting a business registered with CAC online, we got to understand that many people are still finding it difficult to do this.

Though this online registration of business with CAC is really easier than the old method, but it still takes some people up to 6 months before they would be able to finish up the online registration procedures in order to get their CAC certificate.

Staying so long like that before getting your CAC certificate sometimes may be very detrimental. Imagine having a sponsorship opportunity for your business, but demands that you provide your CAC certificate within just 3 months, meanwhile your business has not been registered with CAC.

In this case, you really need to do to get your business registration approval at least within two months. But the truth is that CAC doesn’t easily approved business registration like that, unless the necessary things are fixed right.

So because of this, I was able to make out my time to prepare a very comprehensive article on how I was able to register my business and get my CAC certificate of registration in less than two months.

You can check the Article Here to get guided on how to go about it.

I hope this article helps; do let us know on the comment section, if there is any angle you would need our help. We are always ready to assist as long as it’s business issues.