File photo. Central Lagos seen from above, September 2018. Photo: Subomi07, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.

NIGERIA · BANKING · SMALL BUSINESS

Afreximbank, the Cairo-based pan-African trade bank, has committed a US$75 million finance facility to the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) to lend to small and medium-sized businesses. The agreements were signed at the opening of CANEX WKND 2026, Afreximbank’s Creative Africa Nexus event for creative industries in Lagos (5 to 8 November), and the press release followed on Wednesday 11 November 2026.

DBN will pass the money to eligible firms through its partner financial institutions, including businesses in fashion, film and music. For US readers, it shows a pan-African lender backing small firms in Nigeria, including creative businesses that want to export.

What Was Announced

Afreximbank said the facility will widen access to finance for Nigerian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including eligible businesses in the creative economy. DBN will route the loan through its partner financial institutions for working capital, asset purchases, supply-chain needs and financing before and after exports.

Kanayo Awani, Afreximbank’s executive vice president for intra-African trade and export development, and Dr Tony Okpanachi, DBN’s managing director and chief executive, led the signing. Afreximbank says the deal falls under its Export SME Development programme, which pairs finance with training and export support.

Who the Two Lenders Are

Afreximbank describes itself as a pan-African multilateral bank mandated to finance and promote trade within and beyond Africa. It reports total assets and contingencies of more than US$48.5 billion at the end of December 2025.

DBN describes itself as a wholesale development finance institution, which means it lends through other banks rather than directly to firms. It offers long-term financing and risk-sharing support to address the financing limits that micro, small and medium-sized firms face.

Office towers in the Marina business district of Lagos, Nigeria. File photo, not linked to the story. (Photo: Rio Times library)

Training and Market Access

Afreximbank and DBN will jointly design a capacity-building programme to help the partner institutions serve export-oriented firms. Afreximbank also plans to offer trade platforms such as the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), plus its Africa Buyer Programme and Intra-African Trade Fair.

Awani said the aim is to “help Nigerian SMEs build productive capacity, strengthen their competitiveness and make the transition from promising local businesses to sustainable exporters.” Okpanachi said the capacity-building and market-access parts of the deal are “particularly important to us.”

What It Means for You

The deal shows Afreximbank channelling money into Nigeria’s creative economy through its Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) programme, which our earlier report on its US$1 billion creative-deals goal covers. For investors and trade watchers, the facility is one visible example of that creative-economy push.

Loans of this kind reach businesses through banks, so the effect on any single firm depends on those banks’ own lending decisions. Firms in fashion, film, music and design are among the intended beneficiaries.

What Is Not Known

Neither institution has published the interest rate, repayment period or disbursement date. They have also not said how many firms will benefit or which partner banks will lend the money.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Afreximbank and DBN deal?

Afreximbank has committed a US$75 million finance facility to the Development Bank of Nigeria. DBN will lend it through partner financial institutions to eligible small and medium-sized businesses, including creative firms.

Who can benefit from the facility?

Eligible Nigerian small and medium-sized firms, including businesses in fashion, film, music and design. The institutions have not said how many firms will be reached.

What can the money be used for?

Afreximbank lists working capital, asset purchases, supply-chain activities and financing before and after exports. The facility also includes capacity-building and export-readiness support.

Where and when was the deal announced?

Afreximbank published its press release on Wednesday 11 November 2026. The agreements were signed at the opening of CANEX WKND 2026 in Lagos, an Afreximbank event that ran from 5 to 8 November.

Sources: Afreximbank press release, 11 November 2026.

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