Access Bank’s AI App Receives FG Backing To Drive SME Development

The federal government has endorsed the recently launched artificial intelligence (AI)-powered mobile application of Access Bank Plc for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), describing digital technology as key to boosting business productivity, widening market access and facilitating enterprise growth.

The endorsement was made at the bank’s SME Conference in Lagos where the application was launched along with deliberations on the use of artificial intelligence and other digital tools in tackling challenges facing micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

At the event, Chalya Maryam Shagaya, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Entrepreneurship Development in the Office of the Vice President, said that businesses must increasingly embrace technology to remain competitive, noting that the federal government was strengthening policies and infrastructure to support digital entrepreneurship.

“Every business that is represented here today began with an idea. But you must be able to deliver. And nowadays execution, for most businesses, comes through being technologically inclined.”

Shagaya said President Bola Tinubu had approved a national AI policy designed to boost the country’s artificial intelligence ecosystem and support young entrepreneurs and start-ups through dedicated capacity-building initiatives.

“It will interest you to know also that Mr President recently signed a policy on AI in which he has instructed or rather mandated the Ministry of Communications under the minister, Bosun Tijani that they should establish a hub in which they strengthen, provide scale up for youth and young business owners on AI,” she said.

“The rapid pace by which technology is evolving means that entrepreneurs need to be constantly learning and improving their digital skills,” she urged.

Shagaya also said AI could increase inclusion for neurodivergent entrepreneurs by enabling people with communication and learning challenges to run businesses more independently.

“Then AI can solve that for them. “We are pushing forward with artificial intelligence and technology so neurodivergent people can be included,” she said.
“We can’t have them dependent on the rest of us for the rest of their lives… AI is helping them to do this, to run their own business.”

She cautioned entrepreneurs against relying only on AI-generated information saying digital platforms could sometimes produce inaccurate outputs and should be used alongside human judgement. And she urged business owners facing regulatory hurdles to report such cases to her office for possible intervention.

Read Also: Trafficked Nigerian Girls Reveal Chilling Stories of Forced Prostitution

The AI-powered SME app was rolled out by Access Bank as part of its initiatives to scale digital support to businesses and enhance access to tools that simplify business operations, financial management, and enterprise growth.

According to the bank’s Head of SME Banking, Abiodun Olubitan, MSMEs contribute about 50 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and about 84 per cent of employment, underscoring their importance to Nigeria’s economy. She said the new application is part of the bank’s strategy to provide digital solutions that will allow entrepreneurs to manage their businesses more efficiently and grow sustainably.

Olubitan urged entrepreneurs to value their businesses irrespective of size, stressing that success should not be measured by merely building large conglomerates.

You need to acknowledge and celebrate your work. Success is not just defined by becoming a big enterprise like Dangote Group. “We need to support MSMEs through that journey from the smallest start-ups to the bigger ones,” she said.

The Executive Director of the University of Lagos Business School, Prof. Sunday Adebisi also spoke, saying MSMEs are still the backbone of Nigeria’s economy as there are more than 39 million businesses in the country.

“You’re responsible for 84 percent of national employment,” he said. “Access Bank, Dangote, Shell, Chevron, all those big corporate entities, they’re only 16 per cent.

Adebisi noted that almost half of small businesses fail in their first year of operation, underscoring the need for better business practices and increased technology adoption. Artificial intelligence was a tool that could support customer engagement, inventory management, data analysis and business decision-making, he said. Entrepreneurs who failed to embrace emerging technologies risked losing their competitiveness in an increasingly digital economy, he added.