By Chibuzor Alli
Nigerian small businesses, including fashion, film, music and design enterprises, are set to benefit from a $75m financing facility secured by the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to boost production, expand operations and access international markets.
The facility is expected to provide much-needed financing to businesses struggling to secure affordable capital, particularly those seeking to move beyond local operations into regional and international markets.
Under the arrangement, the funds will be channelled through DBN’s participating financial institutions to support working capital requirements, equipment purchases, export financing and supply chain activities.
Afreximbank disclosed the agreement in a statement issued on Wednesday, following its signing during the Creative Africa Nexus Weekend 2026 in Lagos.
The agreement was signed by Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade and Export Development, Kanayo Awani, and DBN’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Tony Okpanachi.
Awani said the financing arrangement was designed to address one of the biggest obstacles facing Nigerian small and medium-sized enterprises: limited access to capital for business expansion and international competitiveness.
“Nigerian SMEs need finance to invest in productive capacity and compete in new markets. Through DBN’s network of participating financial institutions, this $75m facility will help more businesses, including those in the creative economy, access the capital they need to grow and participate in export value chains,” she said.
She explained that the partnership would go beyond providing loans by combining financing with business development support, export-readiness training and access to new markets.
“Our partnership with DBN goes beyond providing capital. We are taking an integrated approach that combines finance with capacity building, export-readiness support and access to markets,” she said.
“Our objective is to help Nigerian SMEs build productive capacity, strengthen their competitiveness and make the transition from promising local businesses to sustainable exporters.”
Fashion, film and music businesses among beneficiaries
The creative economy is expected to
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