The Grooming Endowment Trust (GET) which is focused on strengthening early-stage Nigerian businesses, has disbursed N50.5 million in direct grants to successful entrepreneurs over the past four years, with a similar amount spent on contingencies.
It has also given grants to 60 small and medium-scale business owners, who have so far emerged beneficiaries of its non-repayable grants.
The latest development came as GET opened applications for the fifth edition of its grant programme, with more than 7,000 entrepreneurs already submitting applications ahead of the August 20 deadline.
Chief Operations Associate of GET Compass, Chike Ugwu, at a briefing in Lagos, explained that the initiative was established to help promising entrepreneurs overcome one of the major obstacles confronting small businesses-access to finance.
Ugwu said the beneficiaries cut across five key areas: education, healthcare, enterprise and community development, humanitarian services and social entrepreneurship.
He said the initiative, a flagship Corporate Social Responsibility programme of Grooming Centre, a microfinance institution, was designed to promote businesses providing products and services capable of improving community welfare while contributing to economic development.
According to him, applicants must be at least 18 years old, have a business registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), and have operated for less than three years.
Applicants are also required to provide detailed records of their business operations and undergo a compulsory intensive two-week training programme in Lagos.
Ugwu said the growing number of applications reflected the increasing demand for support among Nigeria’s emerging entrepreneurs.
‘Over 7,000 entrepreneurs have already applied nationwide ahead of the August 20 deadline for this year,’ he said.
He added that the selection process would be rigorous, with all business proposals subjected to multi-stage screening by a technical team comprising industry experts.
From the applicants, 100 entrepreneurs would be longlisted, while 15 finalists would eventually emerge.
Of the finalists, Ugwu said five would receive N2 million each, while the remaining 10 would receive N300,000 each, bringing the total cash prizes for the 2026 edition to N13 million.
Beyond the financial grants, he said all finalists would benefit from an exclusive mentorship programme designed to equip them with the skills and guidance required to build sustainable businesses.
Ugwu stressed that the programme was not merely about handing out money but about identifying entrepreneurs with viable ideas and helping them build businesses capable of surviving and scaling.
He said the Trust’s interventions were targeted at entrepreneurs who possess viable business ideas but lack the financial capacity to take their enterprises to the next level.
Also speaking, Chief Operating Officer of Creme Consulting, the firm managing the grant, Clifford Onyeike, said evidence from previous beneficiaries showed that the intervention was producing measurable results.
Onyeike said beneficiaries had demonstrated strong business acumen and recorded significant progress after receiving the grants and mentorship.
He said the ultimate objective was to ensure that supported businesses did not merely survive the grant cycle but achieved sustained growth and became capable of contributing meaningfully to the economy.
Describing SMEs as ‘the soul of Nigeria’s economy,’ Onyeike said strengthening small businesses remained critical to job creation, innovation and broader economic development.
The successful applicants for the 2026 cohort are expected to be unveiled and presented with their cheques at an event scheduled for October 30 in Lagos.