By George Ozalla
The Federal Government and private-sector leaders have called for deliberate measures to ensure that Nigeria’s economic reforms translate into tangible business growth, job creation and improved livelihoods for operators of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The call was made on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at the seventh Annual Lecture of the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), held at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, with the theme, “From Policy to Prosperity: Translating Economic Reforms into MSME Growth.”
Representing the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, the Permanent Secretary, Political and Economic Affairs Office, Mrs Augusta Warrens, stressed that access to credit alone could not guarantee the survival and expansion of small businesses.
She maintained that affordable financing must be supported by reliable electricity, market access, relevant technical skills and an enabling business environment to help entrepreneurs expand operations, generate income and create employment.
Warrens noted that government interventions should be assessed by their measurable impact on businesses rather than the volume of loans disbursed or the number of beneficiaries reached.
According to her, the real test of economic reforms is whether they improve productivity, strengthen business sustainability, create jobs and raise incomes.
She also emphasised the need for practical support for women-owned enterprises, noting that equipment, grants and other interventions would deliver limited results if the broader challenges confronting entrepreneurs were not addressed.
In his welcome address, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Development Bank of Nigeria, Dr Tony Okpanachi, disclosed that the bank had disbursed ₦1.4 trillion to MSMEs through 84 participating financial institutions as of December 2025.
Okpanachi said the bank was pursuing a new five-year strategy aimed at reaching more than two million MSMEs, with specific attention to women-led and youth-led businesses and other underserved segments of the economy.
He explained that DBN’s intervention was designed to address financing constraints that have continued to limit the capacity of small businesses to expand, improve productivity and contribute more significantly to national economic development.
As part of efforts to address the challenges facing women entrepreneurs, the bank launched the DBN Action for Women in Nigeria (DAWN), an initiative intended to combine financing with credit guarantees, technical assistance, targeted grants and access to markets.
The initiative is expected to connect women-owned businesses with financial institutions, business development services and market opportunities in sectors including agriculture, exports, healthcare, the creative industry, technology and green businesses.
The DBN chief executive emphasised that sustainable enterprise development required more than the provision of loans, stressing the importance of equipping entrepreneurs with the knowledge, institutional support and commercial opportunities needed to deploy financing effectively.
The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Dr Karl Olutokun Toriola, who delivered the keynote address, highlighted the importance of connectivity, technology and private-sector innovation in translating economic reforms into opportunities for small businesses.
Toriola cited figures from the 2021 National Bureau of Statistics survey indicating that Nigeria had approximately 40 million MSMEs, which contributed about half of the country’s gross domestic product and accounted for between 70 and 85 per cent of the workforce.
He called for the adoption of digital identification systems and alternative credit assessment models to expand access to finance for informal traders and small businesses that may not possess conventional collateral or audited financial statements.
He explained that linking national identification numbers, bank verification numbers and business registration records, alongside the use of transaction histories and other alternative data, could help financial institutions assess businesses that conventional lending requirements often exclude.
The lecture also featured perspectives from the investment and financial services sectors, including Segun Ogunsanya, Chairman of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, and Abubakar Suleiman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank.
Their participation brought investment and banking perspectives to discussions on how policy changes could stimulate private-sector activity and improve access to the capital required by growing businesses.
The annual lecture provided a platform for policymakers, financial institutions and business leaders to examine the relationship between economic reforms, financing and the performance of small enterprises.
The discussions underscored the need for coordinated action by government, development finance institutions, commercial banks and private-sector operators to ensure that reforms produce practical benefits for businesses.
The Development Bank of Nigeria was established to address financing constraints confronting MSMEs by providing funding, partial credit guarantees and technical assistance through eligible financial intermediaries.
Its annual lecture series is designed to encourage dialogue on the challenges facing small businesses and identify practical measures to strengthen their contribution to employment, entrepreneurship and Nigeria’s economic growth.
