UNDP Empowers 470 MSMEs with Grants to Drive Eco-Friendly Innovation and Business Growth

In a strategic push for environmental sustainability and economic empowerment, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has announced that 470 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across Nigeria will benefit from the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP).

The initiative is being implemented through the International Trade Facilitators Association (ITFA) under the Support to Potential and Existing Nature-Positive MSMEs (SPENM) project.

At the launch of a two-day training session for beneficiaries from Nigeria’s northwestern region, Trade Ambassador Collins Ezeiruaku of ITFA emphasized the programme’s focus on supporting NGOs and Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) that are crafting grassroots solutions to environmental challenges, particularly those driven by climate change.

“Many impactful NGOs struggle or fold up due to lack of funding,” Ezeiruaku said. “This grant helps them not only survive but scale their nature-positive work sustainably.”

The SPENM project encourages a triple bottom line approach—people, planet, and profit—enabling MSMEs to combine revenue generation with climate-smart solutions. Through strategic partnerships with federal and state governments, the initiative also aligns with Nigeria’s One State, One Product programme, promoting regional products with comparative advantage.

According to Ezeiruaku, the project is designed to help these small businesses and organisations access local and global markets, achieve international certification, and become competitive players in global green value chains.

Rose Agbo, programme support to the National Coordinator of UNDP’s GEF-SGP, underscored the need to blend conservation with enterprise.

“Many civil society organisations are overly dependent on donor cycles,” Agbo noted. “We’re evolving a model that ensures long-term impact by infusing business models that make environmental conservation profitable and sustainable.”

Malam Sidi, in his opening remarks at the workshop, described the training as a launchpad for turning these MSMEs into self-sustaining green enterprises, capable of tackling environmental issues while creating jobs and economic value.

“This is about building enterprises that thrive while solving real-world problems,” he said. “It’s about profit with purpose.”

With implementation underway, the SPENM project promises to strengthen Nigeria’s ecosystem of green, resilient, and inclusive businesses, ensuring that sustainable development becomes a shared and profitable responsibility.