Google Hustle Academy has awarded N75 million to 15 small and medium-sized businesses, SMBs, as part of its funding initiative. The academy, designed to tackle challenges faced by small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), celebrated the graduation of 5,300 entrepreneurs across Africa.

Google West Africa Country Director, Olumide Balogun commended the intiative stating that the initiative aims to provide a combination of financial support, mentorship, and access to business tools for small enterprises. Since its inception in 2022, the program has made a significant impact, engaging over 10,300 entrepreneurs in its activities.

“Google as a company is always very interested in how we organise the world’s information. We make it universally accessible and useful. And what we are doing today is the hustle Academy which was started in 2022, to help small businesses access the skills and the mentorship and most importantly the funding that they need to be able to scale in a way that grows their business where they can start to not only sell locally, but also export and also create jobs for the economy and for the country.

“We’re excited to be announcing 15 recipients of our very first possible academic fund, as well as graduating the class of 2023 for the Google hustle Academy. The passion and resilience shown by these SMBs are truly inspiring. The Hustle Academy is a testament to what focused training and resources can achieve. We are not just celebrating their graduation today; we are recognizing their potential to reshape and invigorate the Nigerian business landscape.”

“The motivation for us is that in any country or in any community that we are, we want to be responsible contributors supporting businesses there to grow by giving them the skills that they need.”

Charles Odii, the Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), noted that this initiative aligns with SMEDAN’s mission to enhance job creation, alleviate poverty, improve livelihoods, and promote rural industrialization. He said that the agency is presently providing financial support for equipment and working capital to small business clusters in local governments as part of their empowerment efforts.