ACE Project selects 30 trainers to drive innovation and startup growth in Nigeria.

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has urged participants of the Abuja Centre for Entrepreneurship (ACE) Project’s Training of Trainers programme to become catalysts for developing a new generation of innovative, technology-driven and globally competitive Nigerian entrepreneurs.

The charge was delivered by Director Onesi-Lawani, Director of the DG’s Office, who represented the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of SMEDAN, Mr. Charles Odii, at the commencement of the two-week intensive training programme in Abuja. Congratulating the participants, he revealed that the call for applications attracted more than 1,100 entries. From the applicants, the Project Management Consortium (PMC) shortlisted 80 candidates across the Business Management and Artificial Intelligence tracks before selecting 30 successful participants after another round of interviews.
He explained that the participants are expected to become ACE-certified trainers equipped to mentor young Nigerians in leveraging technology, innovation and creativity to build and scale investment-ready enterprises. Director Onesi-Lawani noted that despite the availability of significant funding opportunities for Nigerian startups, there is still a shortage of investment-ready businesses capable of attracting such investments. He therefore urged the trainees to focus on developing entrepreneurs who can build scalable and globally competitive businesses.
He identified Fintech, Agritech, Healthtech, Logistics and Mobility, as well as the Creative Economy—including digital media, fashion, gaming, animation and film—as key opportunity areas under the ACE Project. While highlighting Nigeria’s status as Africa’s leading startup destination and home to five of the continent’s eight unicorns, he challenged the participants to help transform Nigerian youths into globally competitive entrepreneurs capable of building billion-dollar businesses and contributing to Nigeria’s ambition of becoming one of the world’s top ten economies.
Director Onesi-Lawani expressed confidence that the two-week programme would strengthen the participants’ commitment to the objectives of the ACE Project and further enhance Nigeria’s entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem. The Abuja Centre for Entrepreneurship (ACE) is a strategic entrepreneurship and innovation initiative of SMEDAN, implemented in partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). The project is designed to strengthen Nigeria’s entrepreneurship ecosystem through entrepreneurship education, digital innovation, business incubation and acceleration, institutional capacity development, and policy support, while equipping young Nigerians with the knowledge, skills, mentorship and networks needed to build scalable and globally competitive enterprises.