Development Bank Unveils Innovation Hub In Kaduna

The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) has taken a decisive step towards strengthening Nigeria’s innovation landscape with the launch of its first regional Innovation Hub in Kaduna.

The Hub, one of six planned nationwide, signifies a major shift in the Bank’s strategy from solely expanding access to finance to building an innovation-driven MSME ecosystem.

Speaking at the event, the bank’s chief economist, Prof. Joseph Nnanna, anchored the launch on DBN’s performance numbers, describing them as proof that targeted finance and capacity building can unlock broad-based economic transformation.

According to Nnanna, DBN has, since inception, channelled N322 billion into 723,000 women-led MSMEs, N151 billion into 260,000 youth-led enterprises, and N119 billion into over 106,000 startup ventures across the country. In addition, more than 50,000 MSMEs have passed through DBN’s capacity-building programmes delivered through hybrid learning platforms.

He said, “These numbers are not mere statistics; they represent courage, resilience, and thousands of enterprise stories that show what access to finance can achieve.”

Nnanna, however, stressed that the next frontier of inclusive growth rests squarely on innovation. With global economies rapidly reshaped by new technologies and ideas, he argued that Nigeria must position its entrepreneurs—especially young innovators—to compete and lead.

He further stated that the Kaduna Innovation Hub is designed to serve as a bridge between early-stage entrepreneurs and the capital they require to scale, adding that the Hub will offer structured incubation, technical assistance, investment readiness programmes, and linkages to venture capital, with DBN serving as an anchor limited partner to attract private investors into Nigeria’s growing innovation economy.

By 2028, DBN projects that the Hub network will deliver thousands of investment-ready startups, deepen participation of women, youth, and persons with disabilities in innovation, and strengthen regional innovation ecosystems that feed into national growth, he disclosed.

“Our vision is to accelerate Nigeria’s transition to a sustainable, knowledge-based economy,” Nnanna said. “But this requires partnership—from the private sector, investors, development partners, and the entrepreneurial community.”

With Kaduna hosting the first of the regional Hubs, DBN says it intends to position itself not only as a financier but as a national catalyst for innovation-led MSME growth.

“Today’s launch is a historic milestone,” Nnanna concluded. “Welcome to the DBN Innovation Hub.”