Experts in African development believe that
small and medium businesses form the engine room of the
continent's economic growth and development. This
spectrum of businesses, to all intents and purposes,
currently provides productive engagements for about 80%
of Africans. Despite widely acknowledged contributions to
the sm·vival of the continent, adequate t·ecot·ds have not
been kept about this segment of the economy. The apparent
dearth of statistics makes it difficult for entrepreneurship
stakeholders such as investors, researchers, financiers,
government and consultants to effectively and efficiently
articulate and orchestrate a growth plan for them. This
study relied on the doctrine of inclusive innovation and
development to design and build an Automated System for
Small and Medium Enterprises (ASSME) that avails
information for these businesses to continue to grow in
influence and importance. The researcher used serviceoriented
software engineering (SOSE) approach and against
the backdrop that Nigeria is a microcosm of Africa, the
study focused on the country as a testbed for implementing
the web-based solution. The research methodology includes
requirements engineering, modelling of the new system
using universal modelling language (UML), implementing
the proposed solution using Microsoft SharePoint
development platform and finally, evaluating results. In the
final analysis, a practical and usable n-tier enterprise
application emerged. It will aid regulatory agencies like
SMEDAN (Small and Medium Enterprises Development
Agency of Nigeria) in gathering and coordinating
information as well as availing same to entrepreneurship
stakeholders in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
sector for their respective growth-enhancing interventions