- Signs $61m gender credit deal with AfDB
- Thinks financial freedom for women
BY COBHAM NSA – The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) Plc has unveiled a massive triple-threat intervention aimed at rescuing and revitalising Nigeria’s struggling micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
Launched at the bank’s 7th Annual Lecture at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja on Thursday, the package covers a major women’s empowerment initiative, “DAWN (DBN Action for Women in Nigeria)”, alongside a suite of new data tools to turbocharge local businesses for sustainable growth.
Additionally, the Bank disclosed that a cumulative ₦1.4 trillion has been disbursed to MSMEs through 84 Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs), creating about 1.6 million jobs nationwide.
At the high-stakes gathering with the theme: “From Policy to Prosperity: Translating Economic Reforms into MSME Growth”, the rollout, which delivered an aggressive push to turn high-level economic policies into frontline business victories, brought together an influential room of government officials, financial regulators, development partners, and entrepreneurs.
According to the programme brochure, the collective mission focused on bridging the gap between sweeping national economic reforms, especially in delivering real gains for the survival of MSMEs nationwide.
Setting the tone for the summit during his welcome address, DBN Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Tony Okpanachi, warned that the true test of Nigeria’s current economic overhaul is not the policy design itself, but ensuring the benefits actually trickle down to grassroots business owners at the end of the chain.
“The central challenge is no longer the reforms themselves, but ensuring their benefits reach businesses at the end of the chain, Dr Okpanachi said, adding that the Bank also rolled out its latest Impact Report while introducing the DBN MSME Data Assets, a new digital resource designed to give stakeholders clearer pictures of the small business landscape.
Further explaining that the major reforms are now in place, the DBN Chief Executive asked: “How do we make sure their benefits reach the trader in Onitsha, the fabricator in Aba, the farmer in Kebbi and the young founder in Yaba?”
On the disbursements made so far, Dr Okpanachi said: “I am pleased to report that, as at December 2025, DBN had disbursed a cumulative ₦1.4 trillion to MSMEs through 84 Participating Financial Institutions and created about 1.6 million jobs across the country. These are more than figures”, adding that the bank’s new five-year strategy aims to reach more than two million MSMEs, with deliberate targets for women-led businesses, youth-led businesses and underserved states.
He said with the central question shifting from the reforms themselves to who benefits, the follow-up question remains: “The major reforms are now in place. How do we make sure their benefits reach the trader in Onitsha, the fabricator in Aba, the farmer in Kebbi and the young founder in Yaba?”
While citing a national survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) showing that MSMEs account for close to half of Nigeria’s GDP and more than eight in every ten jobs, Okpanachi said: “When reform works for MSMEs, it works for most Nigerians.”
Dr Okpanachi, who also offered insights on ‘DAWN’, said finance alone had not enabled enough women-led businesses to scale, explaining that the initiative brings together financing, guarantees and credit support, technical assistance, outcome-linked grants and market linkages, delivered through banks, microfinance institutions, fintechs, aggregators, cooperatives and direct channels.
“Its priority sectors are agriculture and exports, healthcare, arts and creatives, technology, and green business. DAWN is about moving gender-focused lending beyond intention and turning access into opportunity,” he said.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines of this year’s Lecture, the DBN and the African Development Bank (AfDB) signed a $61 million Gender Line of Credit aimed at bolstering funding for women-led enterprises.
Making a call to action, Dr. Okpanachi challenged financial institutions to lend to underserved sectors and states while also urging regulators to measure success by real-world business impact. This is as he also tasked MSMEs to formalize operations and leverage available support.
At the event, Vice President Kashim Shettima was represented by Senior Technical Adviser in the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on the Economy, Dr. Fred Iklaga as the Special Guest of Honour with keynotes coming from MTN Nigeria CEO, Karl Toriola and Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Chairman Segun Ogunsanya, followed by a discussion panel that featured the CEO of Sterling Bank, Mr Abubakar Suleiman; manufacturing and trade entrepreneur Mrs Omoyemi Chukwurah; and, by video, Mr Kola Masha of Babban Gona.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Senator George Akume, represented by Mrs Augusta Warrens Bekaredebo said the 2026 tax reforms would bring relief to many small businesses, expressing optimism that “a lot of businesses will be smiling” by next year because they will be exempted from tax.
