Convention on Business Integrity, CBi, United Nations Global Compact Network Nigeria, UNGC-NN, in partnership with the Financial Reporting Council, FRC, are have announce the launch of a Small Medium Enterprise, SME, Anti-Corruption and Corporate Governance Standards Project (“SME Future-Forward Project”).

The project is been funded by the MacArthur Foundation.

This project aims to set standards for corporate governance, ethics, and sustainability to guide the direction, control, and management of SMEs in Nigeria, enhance their competitiveness, and achieve long-term success and value creation responsibly and sustainably.

According to the a statement made available to Vanguard, It is estimated that SMEs constitute 96 percent of businesses in Nigeria.

The statement reads: “These enterprises are largely poorly governed, making it difficult to secure the capital needed for growth. Moreover, Nigeria’s challenging business environment creates pressures to adopt practices where complacency, shortcuts, corruption, nepotism, and discrimination flourish.

“These practices create a cyclical effect, compromising SMEs’ ability to achieve and sustain high-performance outcomes, hobbling their ability to source funds, and eroding their capacity to compete in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and beyond.

“The SME Governance Standards Project intends to change this narrative.

“Using a data-driven approach, CBi, UNGC-NN, and FRC will, through this Project, develop a replicable and scalable framework to enhance good corporate governance (anti-corruption, sustainability, and social equity inclusive) practices that would lead to a value creation strategy for all SMEs in Nigeria and increase their competitiveness, survival, growth, and succession.

“During the Project’s initial implementation, participating Future-Forward Companies will receive hands-on, personalised guidance and assistance to comply with the standards.

“Given the pivotal role SMEs play in driving Nigeria’s economic development, poverty reduction, job creation, economic emancipation, and overall well-being, the Project seeks to prove that it is possible – and profitable – for small businesses to do the right things, the right way, in the Nigerian marketplace.”