DBN says ₦1.4tn loans to small businesses have supported 1.6 million jobs

The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) says it has lent a total of ₦1.4tn to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across the country, and that the funding has helped support about 1.6 million jobs as of December 2025.

The bank said the money went out through 84 Participating Financial Institutions, the lenders that pass DBN funds on to small businesses. It announced the figures in a statement on Thursday, a day after its seventh Annual Lecture in Abuja.

For the trader in Onitsha, the welder in Aba or the young founder in Yaba, the question is whether affordable, long-term credit actually reaches them. DBN's managing director and chief executive, Dr Tony Okpanachi, put that squarely on the table at the event.

He noted that the big policy changes are already here, and asked how their gains can get down to the trader in Onitsha, the fabricator in Aba, the farmer in Kebbi and the young founder in Yaba.

Okpanachi said small businesses produce close to half of Nigeria's Gross Domestic Product and account for more than 80 per cent of employment. That, he argued, makes them the real test of the government's economic reforms.

He said that if the reforms deliver for small businesses, they will deliver for the majority of Nigerians.

New plan and a push for women-led businesses

Under a new five-year strategy, DBN hopes to reach more than two million MSMEs. The plan sets specific targets for businesses run by women, those run by young people, and firms in states that have had little access to financing.

The bank also unveiled an initiative called Action for Women in Nigeria, or DAWN. It combines loans, credit guarantees, technical support, grants tied to results and help finding markets. Agriculture, exports, healthcare, the creative sector, technology and green businesses are its priority areas.

Okpanachi said DAWN is meant to take lending aimed at women past good intentions and make it a real opening.

To back it up, DBN signed a $61m Gender Line of Credit agreement with the African Development Bank to fund women-led enterprises.

Okpanachi also asked banks to lend more in neglected sectors and states, and urged business owners to register their firms and keep proper records so they can qualify for credit. He said policymakers should judge reforms by what actually changes for businesses at the end of the chain.

The lecture drew MTN Nigeria chief executive Dr Karl Toriola and Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority chairman Dr Segun Ogunsanya as keynote speakers. Sterling Bank chief executive Abubakar Suleiman, entrepreneur Omoyemi Chukwurah and Babban Gona's Kola Masha, who joined virtually, also took part.

Vice President Kashim Shettima was represented by Dr Fred Iklaga, a senior technical adviser in the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on the Economy. According to Ripples, Augusta Bekaredebo, speaking for the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said the 2026 tax reforms would exempt many small businesses from tax and that many businesses would be relieved next year.

What happens next

The test will be in the branches: whether more small firms, especially those run by women and young people outside Lagos and Abuja, can get longer-term loans and the paperwork support to use them.