Nigerian small businesses will be able to register with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) free of charge through a new digital platform. This was introduced at the 2026 GROW Nigerian Conference in Lagos on Monday, November 9, 2026 and also offers funding leads, training and market linkages, RaveNewsOnline reports.
The platform, mySMEville, was presented by Lynda Saint-Nwafor, Chief Enterprise Business Officer at MTN Nigeria, on the opening day of the conference’s main session at the Ecobank Pan-African Centre, Victoria Island. The free CAC registration is offered in partnership with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), which is hosting the three-day event.
Saint-Nwafor said the platform is organised around four areas: guidance, resources, opportunities and workforce development. Entrepreneurs who sign up are connected to advisory services and structured mentorship; to grants, credit options and investors; to new customer networks and corporate supply chains; and to digital, technical and leadership training for themselves and their staff.
“Knowledge remains the most underestimated asset for any business,” she said. “Through mySMEville, entrepreneurs gain access to expert advisory, structured mentorship and practical learning. In essence, we are closing the knowledge gap that keeps too many promising businesses from reaching their potential.”
Nigeria has close to 40 million micro, small and medium enterprises – artisans, retailers, small manufacturers and technology founders – and a persistent formalisation gap. Businesses without CAC registration are largely excluded from bank credit, corporate procurement and public contracts, which is why the registration component is likely to draw the most immediate interest from attendees.
Saint-Nwafor was explicit that the platform is not offered as a standalone fix. “Building a resilient MSME sector cannot be accomplished through a single intervention, however bold it may be. No single organisation can do it alone. It requires the government, the private sector and entrepreneurs all working together as one,” she said, crediting SMEDAN Director-General Charles Odii with convening industry participants and following commitments with action.
The initiative coincides with MTN Nigeria’s 25th year of operations in the country, which Saint-Nwafor referenced in framing the company’s continued focus on enterprise customers.
The 2026 GROW Nigerian Conference runs from 8 to 10 November under the theme ‘The Next Frontier for Innovation, Policy and Market Access’, bringing together founders, policymakers, financiers and corporate leaders around questions of funding access, digital adoption, market expansion and policy reform.
