Businesses to benefit as bank unveils innovation hub in Kaduna

As part of efforts to fulfill its mandate, the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) has officially inaugurated its state-of-the-art Innovation Hub in Kaduna, marking a commitment to empowering Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across Nigeria’s Northeast and Northwest regions. The event tagged “GrowthxNorth: The DBN MSME Connect,” which held on Thursday, December 4, 2025, […]

As part of efforts to fulfill its mandate, the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) has officially inaugurated its state-of-the-art Innovation Hub in Kaduna, marking a commitment to empowering Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across Nigeria’s Northeast and Northwest regions.

The event tagged “GrowthxNorth: The DBN MSME Connect,” which held on Thursday, December 4, 2025, at the new Hub in Kaduna convened over 100 key stakeholders, including DBN Executive Management, high-potential MSMEs from both regions, financial institutions (PFIs), key government officials, industry association leaders,, partner innovation hubs and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the Northern Region.

Daily Trust understands that the DBN Innovation Hub Project is designed as a multi-phased intervention to address the critical challenges of limited access to finance and inadequate entrepreneurial training prevalent in Northern Nigeria. The program’s vision is twofold:

It is said to increase the enterprise capacity of over 10,000 MSMEs through the delivery of structured, digital training via the DBN BizAid platform, which serves as the mandatory pre-qualification phase.

Similarly, it is aimed at accelerating high-potential MSMEs through an intensive, incubation and mentorship program designed to move ventures beyond “survivalist mode” to sustainable, scalable enterprises.

In the same vein, the DBN innovation hub application portal will open the competitive selection process for the incubation slots, exclusively available to MSMEs who have successfully completed the DBN BizAid training modules.

Subsequently, the intensive 8-week curriculum, developed by implementing partner Wennovation Hub, is structured around the areas of business strategy & growth planning, financial
Management and record-Keeping, investment readiness, and building a compelling pitch deck.

The entire program will culminate in a Demo Day for each cohort, where high-performing MSMEs will be selected to receive crucial Grant Funding to fuel their expansion.

Speaking at the launch of the DBN Innovation Hub in Kaduna on Thursday, Joseph Nnanna, the bank’s Chief Economist, said the hub is designed to accelerate that transformation by giving young innovators the tools and platforms to scale their ideas.

“Each of these enterprises tells a story of courage, innovation and the power of access to finance,” he said, emphasising that youth-led ventures constitute the engine of Nigeria’s emerging innovation economy.

The Kaduna facility, the first of six regional innovation hubs DBN plans to establish nationwide, will serve as a springboard for early-stage ventures, especially those led by youth in the North-West.

It will deliver structured incubation, technical assistance, investment-readiness programmes and direct connections to venture capital, with DBN positioned as an anchor limited partner to attract private investors.

Nnanna described innovation as the key to inclusive growth, noting that global economic shifts demand a new kind of entrepreneurial support in Nigeria. “Innovation is the next frontier of inclusive growth, and Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind,” he said.

While the youth funding figures were a major highlight, the Chief Economist also pointed to DBN’s broader impact.

He said the bank has supported over 723,000 women-led MSMEs with N322 billion, funded more than 106,000 startup enterprises with N119 billion, and trained over 50,000 MSMEs via online and physical channels.

He reiterated that youth remain a strategic priority moving forward. “Our young entrepreneurs — digital, creative and resilient — are brimming with ideas that can solve real challenges if given the right platform,” he noted.

 

By 2028, DBN aims to make thousands more youth-led enterprises investment-ready and to deepen the participation of young people across Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem. The new hub model, developed in partnership with leading innovation centres, ensures that DBN’s approach remains locally grounded while aligned with global best practices.

Calling for collaboration, Nnanna urged private-sector players, investors and development partners to join the movement.

“Together, we can turn ideas into enterprises, enterprises into growth, and growth into shared prosperity for all Nigerians,” he said.

Abdullahi Makarfi, Executive Director of the Kaduna Enterprise Development Agency, who represented Governor Uba Sani at the DBN Innovation Hub, said the state is focused on how MSMEs can leverage ICT innovation and capacity building.

According to him, the State Enterprise and Development Agency is committed to ensuring that finance is well facilitated, markets are well supported, and training is accelerated.

“Now, MSMEs in the state must ensure that their products are export-ready. What I mean by export-ready is that MSMEs in Kaduna State should be able to sell their services or products within the country or outside the country. And that is one of the reasons why the state government — in fact, we are the first to sign the tech start-up law in the country,” he said.

He explained that the tech start-up law is backed by N250 million, through which MSMEs operating within the innovation hub will be supported to enhance their operational capacity.

He further stated the state’s readiness to support and partner with the Development Bank of Nigeria as a critical stakeholder in this endeavour.