DBN and AfDB Sign $61m Credit Line for Women Entrepreneurs

The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have signed a $61 million gender-focused credit line to expand financing for women-owned businesses. The agreement, signed on the sidelines of DBN's seventh Annual Lecture in Abuja on October 22, 2026, is the hardest number in a package of announcements that also included a new women's initiative and fresh lending figures.

DBN used the same event to launch DBN Action for Women in Nigeria (DAWN), an initiative that combines financing with business support, credit guarantees, grants and market access for women entrepreneurs.

Speaking in Abuja, DBN Managing Director and CEO Dr Tony Okpanachi said access to finance alone has not enabled enough women-led businesses to expand, which makes it necessary to address the other challenges they face.

"DAWN is about moving gender-focused lending beyond intention and turning access into opportunity," Okpanachi said.

What does the initiative actually deliver?

DAWN will support women-owned and women-led businesses through commercial banks, microfinance institutions, fintech companies, business aggregators, cooperatives and direct channels. Its priority sectors are:

• Agriculture and exports
• Healthcare
• Arts and creative industries
• Technology
• Green businesses

Beneficiaries are expected to access financing, credit guarantees that help lenders manage risk, technical assistance to prepare businesses for expansion, results-based grants, and connections to customers, trade platforms and business associations.

The AfDB–DBN credit line is expected to strengthen both institutions' efforts to make financing more accessible to women entrepreneurs. However, the statements announcing the agreement did not provide details on lending terms, the disbursement schedule, or the number of businesses expected to benefit.

DBN's track record: ₦1.4 trillion to MSMEs

Beyond the gender-focused deal, DBN disclosed it had disbursed a cumulative ₦1.4 trillion to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises through 84 participating financial institutions as of December 2025. The bank said its interventions supported the creation of about 1.6 million jobs nationwide — roughly one job for every ₦875,000 disbursed.

Okpanachi said DBN will expand its reach under a new five-year strategy targeting more than two million MSMEs, with specific attention to women-led businesses, youth-led enterprises and states where access to financing remains limited. That's a step change from the roughly 1.6 million jobs its lending has supported so far.

He argued the bank's work should ensure economic reforms translate into practical benefits for business owners rather than remaining policies on paper.

"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?" he asked.

The success of reforms, he said, should be judged by whether businesses can use the opportunities created by government policies to improve their operations and expand.

What does this change for lenders and business owners?

For practitioners, Okpanachi spelled out the mechanics. Entrepreneurs need loans with repayment periods long enough to buy equipment and invest in their businesses. Financial institutions must be willing to lend to viable enterprises that might otherwise struggle to get funding.

Business owners, in turn, need the skills and proper records required to manage their operations and demonstrate their capacity to grow.

DBN was established to address these challenges through a wholesale financing model. It works mainly with participating financial institutions — commercial, merchant and microfinance banks — providing longer-term funding these institutions can on-lend to MSMEs. Its subsidiary, Impact Credit Guarantee Limited, offers partial credit guarantees to reduce lenders' risk when financing viable businesses. The bank also provides capacity-building support to financial institutions and entrepreneurs, including through its Entrepreneurship Training Programme.

Okpanachi urged participating financial institutions to expand lending to underserved sectors and states, arguing broader access to credit is necessary for more businesses to benefit from economic reforms. He called on policymakers and regulators to assess how their decisions affect enterprises, and urged entrepreneurs to formalise their businesses, keep proper records and take advantage of available support programmes.

He cited a national MSME survey by the National Bureau of Statistics and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, which found small businesses account for close to half of Nigeria's GDP and more than eight in every 10 jobs.

"When reform works for MSMEs, it works for most Nigerians," Okpanachi said.

Three launches in one day

DBN also unveiled its MSME Data Assets, an open data resource intended to help policymakers, lenders and researchers make better-informed decisions about the sector. The bank said the resource would provide a basis for evidence-driven decisions on MSME development.

Alongside it, the newly launched Impact Report sets out the results of DBN's financing interventions and areas where improvements are needed. The three launches — DAWN, the Impact Report and the MSME Data Assets — formed part of the bank's seventh annual lecture, themed "From Policy to Prosperity: Translating Economic Reforms into MSME Growth." The event brought together government officials, regulators, development partners, financial institutions and entrepreneurs.

Representing the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mrs Augusta Warrens Bekaredebo expressed optimism that the 2026 tax reforms would provide relief to many small businesses. She said many enterprises could benefit from tax exemptions under the reforms, adding that "a lot of businesses will be smiling" by next year.

For women-led businesses and the lenders serving them, the immediate question is disbursement speed — the $61 million line arrives with no published schedule, so the practical test will be how quickly DAWN moves from launch announcements to signed loans on the ground.