The federal government has expressed support for the recently launched artificial intelligence (AI) powered mobile application of Access Bank Plc for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), saying digital technology was crucial to improving business productivity, expanding market access and facilitating enterprise growth.
The endorsement was made at the bank’s SME Conference in Lagos where the application was launched alongside deliberations on the use of artificial intelligence and other digital tools towards 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 started with an idea. But you have to make sure you are able to execute. “And these days execution, for most companies, comes from being technologically savvy.”
President Bola Tinubu had approved a national AI policy that would boost the country’s artificial intelligence ecosystem and support young entrepreneurs and start-ups through dedicated capacity-building initiatives, Shagaya said.
“It will interest you to know also that Mr President has 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.
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“The rapidity with which technology is developing means that entrepreneurs need to be continuously learning and improving their digital skills,” she urged.
Shagaya also said AI could boost inclusion for neurodivergent entrepreneurs by enabling people with communication and learning challenges to run businesses more independently.
“Then AI can do that for them. “We are moving forward with artificial intelligence and technology for neurodivergent people to be included,” she said.
“We can’t allow them to be reliant on the rest of us for the rest of their lives… AI is enabling them to do this, to run their own business.”
She warned entrepreneurs about the dangers of relying solely on information from AI, saying digital platforms could sometimes generate inaccurate outputs and should be used in tandem with human judgement. And she urged business owners who’ve faced regulatory hurdles to bring those cases to her office for possible intervention.
Access Bank launched the AI-powered SME app as part of its efforts to increase digital support to businesses and improve access to tools that make business operations, financial management, and enterprise growth simpler.
Abiodun Olubitan, the bank’s Head of SME Banking, said MSMEs account for approximately 50 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and about 84 per cent of employment, highlighting their importance to Nigeria’s economy. 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, she said.
Olubitan advised entrepreneurs to value their businesses irrespective of the size stressing that success should not be measured by merely building big conglomerates.
You need to recognize and celebrate your work. Success is not only being a big enterprise like Dangote Group. “We need to support MSMEs throughout their journey from the smallest start-ups to the bigger ones,” she said.
Speaking, the Executive Director, University of Lagos Business School, Prof. Sunday Adebisi said MSMEs are still the backbone of the Nigerian economy with 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 are only 16 per cent.
Almost half of small businesses fail in their first year of operation, Adebisi said, highlighting the need for better business practices and increased technology adoption. He said artificial intelligence was a tool that could support customer engagement, inventory management, data analysis and business decision-making. He added that entrepreneurs who failed to embrace emerging technologies risked losing their competitiveness in an increasingly digital economy.