Managing Director/CEO of the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) Plc, Dr Tony Okpanachi, said the central challenge was no longer the economic reforms themselves but ensuring their benefits trickle down to businesses at the end of the chain. NigerianNews Updates
Speaking during the launch of DAWN: DBN Action for Women in Nigeria, and the unveiling of the DBN Impact Report, he presented the DBN MSME Data Assets during the seventh edition of its Annual Lecture, held in Abuja. He noted that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) account for close to half of Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) and more than eight in every 10 jobs,
“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.
He noted that MSMEs account for close to half of Nigeria’s GDP and more than eight in every ten jobs, adding, “When reform works for MSMEs, it works for most Nigerians.” NigerianNews Updates
Dr Okpanachi explained that a reform becomes prosperity only when an entrepreneur can act on it, whether through long-tenor loans to buy equipment, a bank willing to take the risk, or the skills and records needed to grow. Working through Participating Financial Institutions, DBN provides longer-term funding, partial credit guarantees through its subsidiary, Impact Credit Guarantee Limited, and capacity building, including its Entrepreneurship Training Programme.
He reported that as at December 2025, DBN had disbursed a cumulative ₦1.4 trillion to MSMEs through 84 Participating Financial Institutions, creating about 1.6 million jobs nationwide. Under its new five-year strategy, the Bank aims to reach more than two million MSMEs, with deliberate targets for women-led businesses, youth-led businesses and underserved states.
On DAWN, Dr Okpanachi said finance alone had not enabled enough women-led businesses to scale. 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.
“From Policy to Prosperity: Translating Economic Reforms into MSME Growth” as the theme, the 2026 lecture brought together government officials, regulators, development partners, financial institutions and entrepreneurs to examine how national economic reforms can deliver real gains for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
On the sidelines of the lecture, DBN and the African Development Bank (AfDB) also held a signing ceremony for the AfDB–DBN $61 million Gender Line of Credit, reinforcing the Bank’s commitment to women-led enterprises.
Dr Okpanachi urged Participating Financial Institutions to extend lending into sectors and states where access to finance has been limited; policymakers and regulators to “measure reform by what changes for the business at the end of the chain”; and MSMEs to formalise, keep good records and use the support now available to them.
Dr Fred Iklaga, Senior Technical Adviser in the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on the Economy, represented the Vice President, Special Guest of Honour. Keynote speakers were MTN Nigeria CEO Dr Karl Toriola and Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority Chairman Dr Segun Ogunsanya. A fireside chat featured Sterling Bank CEO Mr Abubakar Suleiman; manufacturing and trade entrepreneur Mrs Omoyemi Chukwurah; and, via video, Mr Kola Masha of Babban Gona.
Representing the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, 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 exempt from tax.
