8th July, 2023
The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) recently played host to tech innovators, entrepreneurs, financial experts, and business growth strategists at the second edition of its Techpreneur Summit.
At the summit, experts and stakeholders advocated for increased leverage of digital innovation, financial inclusion, and sustainable partnerships to accelerate the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria.
At the event held in Lagos on Tuesday, 4 July, and well-attended by an array of small business owners and beneficiaries of DBN credit schemes from across varying sectors of the economy, speakers affirmed that MSMEs were pivotal for national economic growth, job creation and as the bedrock of industrialization.
The theme for the Techpreneur Summit was, “Promoting Innovation and Sustainable Partnerships”, which was delivered by the keynote speaker, the renowned business thought leader and President/Co-CEO of Opay, Mr. Olu Akanmu.
A panel of eminent industry leaders also advanced solutions that could further promote MSMEs growth in the country. Making his presentation, Mr. Akanmu commended the Development Bank of Nigeria for its lofty mission of facilitating sustainable socio-economic development through the provision of finance to the underserved and unserved community of MSMEs, providing them with credit guarantee and equipping them with the capacity to scale up.
He said by enabling MSMEs to access funding on non-commercial terms, DBN has been at the forefront of promoting financial inclusion for small businesses as a larger number of them are excluded by the traditional financial institutions due to stringent conditions attached to accessing credit facilities.
The guest speaker in his modified topic, “Pursuing Great Purpose, Sustainable Impact and Partnerships for Tech Businesses”, asserted that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Naira design and cash swap in the first quarter of the year made it more imperative for MSMEs to embrace technology and innovation for their systems, product design, marketing, and transactions.
Akanmu, who noted that the socio-economic parity index still showed a wide gap between the rich and the poor, stated that the potential for small and mid-sized businesses to play a key role in bridging the gap was very huge if the right environment was created for MSMEs to grow sustainably.
He described as unhealthy the present ecosystem of fintechs and financial institutions focusing largely on commercial businesses and concentrating on cities to the exclusion of sectors that could impact real growth such as MSMEs and the unserved populations in rural communities, urging them to widen their social impact.
Speaking on the importance of innovation and sustainable business impact and partnerships with small businesses and startups, he stated: “Digital technology enables us to do far more for less. Digital technology enables new business models to unlock market opportunities in traditional businesses that are historically considered unprofitable.
“The digital innovation effect, when combined with partnerships, could expand market access, and reach for businesses, at reduced cost.”
Akanmu disclosed further that through partnerships and collaboration, businesses could access shared knowledge, information, skills and technology that could impact growth and sustainable business practices.
He pointed out that for a partnership to work effectively, whether it was being sought with a government/regulator or a business, there was a need to understand the need of the regulators including compliance, and adherence to fair deal principles with potential and actual business partners.
A panel moderated by DBN’s Head of Information Technology, Mr. Biodun Ijaware and comprising the quartet of FSDH Merchant Bank’s Head of Business Banking, Mr Dennis Ezeaga; Chief Digital Officer, Wema Bank, Mr Olusegun Adeniyi; Strategy Lead, Spurt Group, Ms Kristin Wilson; and DBN’s Head, Credit Operation and Collections, Mrs Busola Falade also harped on impact drivers for MSMEs growth.
In his contribution, Adeniyi highlighted certain important factors that business owners must pay attention to as part of the things that could help them grow.
These, according to him, includes being conversant with the regulatory ecosystem to be able to engage effectively with government, networking, and collaborating with other businesses, as well as incubation and development of innovative ideas into products that deliver value to customers.
He also advocated for increased funding support and government support to businesses as well as deepening public-private partnerships.
Meanwhile Ezeaga on his part advised fintech and small businesses to lessen their risk factors to make them more attractive for traditional financial institutions to lend to them.
He explained that having in place a structured operational system, including accounting and book-keeping systems, credit and risk management, and capacity, were some of the essentials every business, big or small, should have.
Sharing the story about her business journey, Kristin emphasized that capacity, governance structure, good traction and a well-defined market were vital ingredients for early-stage business owners to build a sustainable business.
She added that it was also important to recognize the challenges startups faced and be ready to face those challenges courageously.
On her part, Mrs Falade stressed that the Development Bank of Nigeria has been consistent in the implementation of its core mandate of providing access to funds, credit guarantee and capacity building for MSMEs, assuring that the bank would continue to raise the bar in serving these critical sector of the economy.
In his welcome speech, the Managing Director/CEO, of the Development Bank of Nigeria Plc, Dr Tony Okpanachi, disclosed that the Techpreneur Summit was set up as a veritable platform which further underscores DBN’s commitment and support for MSMEs and to accelerate their growth.
“The DBN Techpreneur Summit serves as a melting point of ideas and innovation to accelerate the growth of MSMEs in Nigeria, and it affirms commitment to our core mandate as a wholesome bank dedicated to the MSMEs sector.
“This summit also underscores the well-established fact of our commitment to continue to advocate for MSMEs. Therefore, we must continue to forge sustainable alliances that foster business sustainability as we seek more innovative ways to support small businesses to thrive,” Okpanachi stated.
One of the major highlights of the DBN Techpreneur ’23 Summit was the presentation of cash prizes to the top three winners of the Eco-Innovation Challenge covering Environmental Sustainability, Sustainable Agriculture and Renewable Energy. Mr. Onimisi Charles Atere won the first prize and received N1.5m; Ms. Monica Monday Etim, the second prize winner got N1m, while the third prize winner, Mr. Godwin Adoga, got N750,000.
Among the distinguished personalities that attended the summit was a member of the DBN Board of Directors, Independent Non-Executive Director, Mallam Bukar Kyari, who also emphasized the need for MSMEs to onboard technology and leverage partnerships and networking to scale. Others were technocrats in the IT space and academics.