The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) has further bolstered the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) within the country’s innovation ecosystem by facilitating direct interface between investors-ready tech innovators and potential investors.
The bank offered qualified techpreneurs opportunity to secure financing deals during the just-concluded annual flagship tech event, 2024 DBN Techpreneur Summit 3.0, held, recently in Lagos.
A statement by DBN said that at the event Dr. Celestine Iwendi, an international scholar and Head, Centre of Intelligence of Things, University of Bolton, United Kingdom, the Keynote Speaker, admonished Nigerian tech innovators to intensify efforts on research and development of more innovation-based solutions that could help in addressing the numerous social and environmental challenges in the country.
Dr. Tony Okpanachi, the Managing Director, DBN, in his speech, said that the interface between the tech innovators and potential investors was made possible through partnership between the bank and Addium Capital with the setting up of DealRoom – an exclusive session during the summit that offered opportunity for techpreneurs to meet with potential investors directly.
He stated further that the reason for integrating DealRoom into the summit was to bridge the gap between capital seekers and investors, thereby catalysing funding opportunities and fostering regenerative growth within the Nigerian tech ecosystem.
He said: “By providing a platform for startups to pitch their ideas, network with investors, and explore funding opportunities, the summit seeks to bridge the gap between innovative tech ventures and capital infusion.
“This emphasises the importance of fostering an environment conducive for investment in Nigerian technology startups, driving economic growth and accelerating job creation.”
Okpanachi added that the innovative concept was also to encourage entrepreneurs to develop innovative solutions that not only drive financial returns, but also generate positive social and environmental impacts specifically for Nigeria.
The DBN boss noted that the bank’s significant impact on Nigerian MSMEs, since it commenced full operations in 2018, included support for women and youth-led businesses, with 72 per cent of the beneficiaries being women and 24 per cent youth.
He added: “In addition to lending, DBN also provides technical assistance to Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) to encourage them to lend to the MSMEs. But that’s not all; DBN also assists in capacity building for MSMEs through our various initiatives, one of which is the Techpreneur Summit, which was initiated to better understand the needs of Nigeria’s tech ecosystem to provide sustainable financial solutions to them.”
As part of this year’s DBN Techpreneur Summit, a pitch session also held during, which 20 tech innovators cutting across green/renewable energy, recycling, fintech, e-commerce, business financing, insurance, nutrition, health, agriculture, transportation, automobile spare parts, and other sustainable innovations showcased innovative ideas.
At the end of the pitch presentations, four successful winners received a total prize sum of N20 million as seed money.
The winners were; Niteon, PowerLab Limited, Powerful Technology, and TradeLenda.
Also, Iwendi, speaking on the theme for this year’s summit, ‘Catalysing Tech Innovation: Empowering Entrepreneurs for Regenerative Growth,’ disclosed that there was a huge market for tech innovations in Nigeria with the myriad social, economic and environmental challenges facing the country.
He said innovative solutions could help solve and overcome many of them, including food insecurity, rising general insecurity such as insurgency, banditry and kidnapping, cybercrimes and Internet frauds.
“The growth of the tech sector has been catalysed by increased Internet penetration and smartphone adoption, and Nigeria is benefitting from local and foreign investors in the tech sector. Lagos is Nigeria’s tech hub and the only city in Africa included in the Global Top 100 Startup Ecosystems for 2023, meaning Nigeria is coming up.
“With a population of over 200 million coupled with multifaceted social, economic and security challenges, Nigeria offers a vast market for tech-driven solutions,’’ he said.
He also called on the government and industry stakeholders to collaborate in tackling the challenges faced by Nigerian techpreneurs, including inadequate funding, dearth of infrastructure, regulatory issues, inadequate skilled talents, low market penetration and scalability.
He further advocated urgent need for the reform of the country’s education curriculum towards equipping the youth and graduates for the future of work, which is tech-driven.
