The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) has launched DBN Action for Women in Nigeria (DAWN), a new initiative designed to help women-led businesses overcome the barriers that keep them from growing.
The Managing Director/CEO of the bank, Dr Tony Okpanachi, announced the launch on Wednesday at the bank’s annual lecture, held at Transcorp Hilton Abuja under the theme “From Policy to Prosperity: Translating Economic Reforms into MSME Growth.”
DAWN brings financing, credit guarantees, technical assistance, targeted grants and market access together in one initiative.
“Access to finance is important, but finance alone has not enabled women-led businesses to scale. DAWN brings financing, guarantees, technical assistance, targeted grants and market access together to support women entrepreneurs,” Okpanachi said.
He said the initiative will connect women entrepreneurs with financial institutions, business support services and market opportunities across agriculture, exports, healthcare, the creative industry, technology and green businesses.
DBN is the Federal Government’s development finance institution for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). It was established with global development partners, including the World Bank, the African Development Bank, KfW Development Bank, the French Development Agency and the European Investment Bank, to ease the financing challenges facing small businesses in Nigeria. It began operations in 2017.
The bank is a wholesale institution and does not lend directly to the public. It provides funding, partial credit guarantees and technical assistance to Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs), which then lend to MSMEs. Its PFIs include commercial banks, microfinance banks, merchant banks and development finance institutions.
According to the bank, Nigeria has more than 37 million MSMEs that contribute over 50 per cent of the country’s GDP, yet fewer than 5 per cent have access to credit in the financial system.
As of December 2025, DBN had disbursed ₦1.4 trillion to MSMEs through 84 PFIs. Women have been central to that record. According to Okpanachi, women-owned businesses account for 77 per cent of the bank’s beneficiaries since inception.
Okpanachi told the audience that under the bank’s new five-year strategy, DBN is targeting more than two million MSMEs, with deliberate targets for women-led businesses, youth-led businesses and other underserved segments that need stronger access to finance and business support. Under the plan, 40 per cent of loans are earmarked for women-led businesses and 30 per cent for youth-owned enterprises.
Speaking on behalf of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. George Akume, the Permanent Secretary, Political and Economic Affairs Office, Mrs Augusta Warrens, said government support for women-owned businesses must go beyond handing out money or equipment.
“Providing equipment or grants without addressing wider business challenges might not deliver sustainable growth,” she said.
She added that government interventions should be measured by improvements in business productivity, sustainability, job creation and income, not by the number of loans disbursed or beneficiaries reached.
Businesses reach DBN funding through its PFIs. An entrepreneur visits a participating commercial bank, microfinance bank or development finance institution and says she wants to apply for a DBN loan. The bank appraises the business and the purpose of the loan, and if its assessment is favourable, it applies to DBN for funding. If DBN approves, it releases the money to the bank, which lends to the borrower.
Start-ups and existing MSMEs in productive enterprises can qualify, provided they are customers of an eligible financial institution. DBN loans can run for up to 10 years, with a moratorium of up to 18 months. The list of participating institutions is available at devbankng.com.
The launch of DAWN comes at a time when the bank is placing women-led businesses at the centre of its new strategy. With 40 per cent of its loans earmarked for them, and a measure of success that, in the words of the government’s representative at the lecture, rests on productivity, jobs and income, DAWN sets out to give those businesses the support they need to scale.
Samuel Agboola is a member of TheScript Newspaper
