AfDB Approves $61m for DBN to Boost Women-Led Agribusinesses in Nigeria

News in Brief

-The AfDB has approved a $61 million financing package to boost affordable credit access for women-led businesses in Nigeria.

-Over 95% of funds target women entrepreneurs in agriculture, clean energy, and healthcare, aiming to close the gender financing gap.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has approved a landmark $61 million financing package for the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), targeting women-owned and women-led businesses with a focus on agriculture. 

This initiative promises to unlock vital credit for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through DBN's vast network of participating financial institutions. Over 95% of the funds will channel directly to women entrepreneurs, tackling Nigeria's stubborn gender financing gap head-on.

AfDB’s $61m for Women Agripreneurs

A breakdown of the fund involves a $50 million gender-focused line of credit that forms the backbone, complemented by an $8 million concessional facility under the Agri-Food SME Catalytic Financing Mechanism (ACFM), and a $3 million grant via the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative, backed by the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi).

According to the bank, these tools combine long-term loans, soft funding, partial credit guarantees, and hands-on capacity building to deepen MSME lending and improve access to finance for women entrepreneurs operating in agriculture, clean energy, healthcare and other sectors.

Empowering Nigeria's Women Economic Engines

AfDB Nigeria Country Office Director-General Abdul Kamara hailed women entrepreneurs as one of Nigeria’s greatest economic assets and one of its most underleveraged.

“Women entrepreneurs are one of Nigeria’s greatest economic assets and one of its most underleveraged. This operation reflects the African Development Bank’s commitment to unlocking economic opportunities for women,” he emphasised. “By working through DBN to reach women-owned businesses in agriculture, clean energy, healthcare, and beyond, we are not just expanding access to credit; the Bank is investing in the engine of Nigeria’s inclusive economic transformation.”

This infusion targets performance-based incentives under AFAWA to boost the ranks of eligible women-led enterprises and raise the bank's women-focused MSME portfolio share. In Nigeria's agriculture sector, where women drive much of smallholder production yet face credit barriers amid rising food prices and reliance on imports, this could spark a green revolution from the ground up. Farmers in rice paddies, maize fields, and cassava plots stand to gain, fostering jobs, boosting output, and curbing inflation that has squeezed households nationwide.

Deepening a Historic Partnership

The approval cements a partnership forged since DBN's birth, backed by AfDB, the Federal Government, and global allies. It aligns well with AfDB's Four Cardinal Points, especially demographic transformation, and its 2024-2033 Ten-Year Strategy, prioritising inclusive growth, private sector vitality, and gender equity. Locally, it mirrors Nigeria’s Country Strategy Paper (2025-2030), pushing gender- and youth-inclusive green growth alongside women's empowerment.

As food security challenges in Nigeria deepen under climate shocks and naira pressures, channelling finance to women-led ventures could multiply yields, cut post-harvest losses, and weave resilience into supply chains. Experts note such interventions echo past AfDB wins, like $538 million for agro-zones, proving targeted funding yields tangible harvests.