DBN launches DAWN to help Nigerian women-led businesses scale

The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) has launched a programme combining financing, credit guarantees, grants and market access to help women-led businesses overcome barriers to growth, as high borrowing costs and limited access to capital continue to constrain small enterprises.

The initiative, known as DBN Action for Women in Nigeria (DAWN), was unveiled on Wednesday at the bank’s seventh annual lecture in Abuja, alongside the signing of a $61 million gender-focused credit line with the African Development Bank (AfDB).

DAWN is designed to move beyond conventional lending by combining finance with technical assistance, outcome-linked grants and market linkages. It will target women-owned and women-led businesses through commercial banks, microfinance institutions, fintechs, aggregators, cooperatives and direct channels.

Its priority sectors include agriculture and exports, healthcare, arts and creatives, technology, and green business.

Tony Okpanachi, managing director and chief executive officer of DBN, said access to credit alone had not enabled enough women-led enterprises to expand, highlighting the need for a broader support system that helps businesses become sustainable and competitive.

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

The programme comes as Nigerian businesses contend with expensive credit, unreliable electricity, limited market access and working-capital shortages. These constraints can prevent entrepreneurs from investing in equipment, expanding production and creating jobs, even as government reforms seek to improve the business environment.

The $61 million gender line of credit signed by DBN and AfDB at the event is expected to reinforce efforts to expand financing for women entrepreneurs. The arrangement adds to DBN’s broader strategy of using financial institutions and credit-support mechanisms to reach businesses that struggle to obtain affordable funding.

DBN said it had cumulatively disbursed N1.4 trillion to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) through 84 participating financial institutions as of December 2025, supporting the creation of about 1.6 million jobs nationwide.

Under its new five-year strategy, the bank aims to reach more than two million MSMEs, with specific targets for women-led enterprises, youth-led businesses and underserved states.

Beyond DAWN, DBN provides longer-term funding through participating commercial, merchant and microfinance banks, alongside partial credit guarantees through its subsidiary, Impact Credit Guarantee Limited. The bank also offers capacity-building support through programmes such as its Entrepreneurship Training Programme.

Okpanachi said the challenge was to ensure that the gains from economic reforms translated into practical improvements for businesses, rather than remaining at the policy level.

“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 bank also presented its MSME Data Assets, an open data resource intended to support evidence-based decisions by policymakers, lenders and researchers, and unveiled an impact report documenting the outcomes of its interventions.

Representing the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Augusta Warrens Bekaredebo said the success of reforms should be assessed by their effects on businesses, including their ability to invest, retain workers and expand production.

She said the government’s 2026 tax reforms were expected to provide relief to eligible small businesses, while urging financial institutions to consider viable enterprises that lacked conventional collateral.

Bekaredebo also stressed the importance of combining financing with training, skills development and monitoring to improve business survival and ensure that support translates into lasting economic gains.