Kaduna govt disburses ₦619m grants to 8,649 small businesses

The Kaduna State Government has provided financial support to 8,649 Nano, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (NMSMEs) between 2024 and 2025, helping them remain operational and grow their businesses.

This was revealed by the Managing Director of the Kaduna State Enterprise Development Agency (KADEDA), Iliya Timbuark, in an interview on Friday in Kaduna.

Timbuark disclosed that over ₦619 million was distributed under the “A Kori Talauci Grant Scheme,” approved by Governor Uba Sani to combat poverty and empower small businesses.

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In addition, the agency carried out capacity-building programmes for 3,500 business owners to enhance their business development skills and ensure effective use of the grants through the KD-CARES operational grant scheme.

“We also organized a business literacy programme across the three senatorial zones, where over 60,000 NMSMEs were sensitised and onboarded,” Timbuark said.

To facilitate direct engagement with entrepreneurs, KADEDA trained and deployed 1,280 field agents—five in each ward—across all 23 local government areas of the state.

He noted that KADEDA, which operates under the Ministry of Business Innovation and Technology (MBIT), has developed several initiatives to boost financial inclusion and economic development.

Among the planned projects is the Digital Ecosystem and Compliance Infrastructure, aimed at simplifying business registration and maintaining a comprehensive NMSMEs database through a compliance portal.

Another upcoming initiative is the Kaduna Enterprise Ecosystem Portal (KADEPP), designed to connect businesses with available services and opportunities.

In partnership with the Ministry of Human Services, KADEDA will also support cooperatives and targeted entrepreneurs through programmes such as: tallafin dana’o’i na Uba Sani, She-copreneurship, benefiting 2,300 women across LGAs, Copreneurship, aimed at youth and women, agripreneurship, focused on agricultural enterprises.

Other proposed initiatives include tech startup support, to create a regulatory framework for technology innovation and investment.

A ₦1billion SMEDAN matching fund programme, an upcoming MSME Summit, featuring workshops, investment roundtables, and stakeholder engagements to expand access to financing and mentorship

Timbuark emphasized that these achievements and plans align with MBIT’s broader mission to promote entrepreneurship, innovation, and sustainable economic growth under Kaduna’s “SUSTAIN Agenda.”