DBNC 2025: Empowering Nigeria's entrepreneurs and innovators for the future
'When we started this conference five years ago, our goal was simple but bold. We wanted to create a space for open, honest, and forward-thinking dialogue about what it really takes to do business in Nigeria. Five years later, that mission is still at the heart of what we do and the need for it has only grown stronger.'
These words set the tone for DBNC 2025, emphasizing the critical need for businesses in Nigeria to remain resilient and adaptable as they navigate both challenges and opportunities. Uneze's statement echoed the underlying sentiment of the event: Nigeria's business environment may be complex, but it holds immense potential, waiting to be unlocked through collaboration, resilience, and innovation.
A central highlight of DBNC 2025 was the Business Pitch Competition, which showcased the creativity and drive of Nigeria's next generation of entrepreneurs. Four standout startups: ULE HOME, offering sustainable housing solutions; Agristi, leveraging agri-fintech for farmer empowerment; ALLIES, focused on digital tools for informal sector growth; and QIQI Farms, a data-driven agric venture tackling food insecurity, pitched their transformative ideas before a panel of esteemed judges: Ms. Stella Duru (Board Chairman, Zedcrest / Partner, Banwo & Ighodalo), Njideka Jack (Senior Manager, MTN Nigeria), and Dr. Ayo Adegboye (CEO, Arravo).
After an intense session of pitching and deliberation, QIQI Farms emerged as the winner. Their bold approach to improving rural market access and food distribution through logistics innovation and real-time data analytics captured the judges' attention. In addition to securing a financial grant, QIQI Farms received invaluable access to tailored mentorship, strategic partnerships, and critical growth resources.
The Business Pitch Competition was a powerful reminder that even in challenging times, innovation has the potential to thrive. By supporting these entrepreneurs, DBNC is fostering an ecosystem where ideas can grow into tangible impact. Beyond funding, the competition offered a support network that will help nurture young businesses for the long term.
Networking played a vital role in DBNC 2025, providing participants with the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations, forge new partnerships, and discuss strategies for growth. These networking sessions highlighted the importance of collaboration in Nigeria's business ecosystem. From early-stage founders to seasoned executives, the interactions at DBNC set the stage for potential collaborations that could translate into real business outcomes.
The event also featured a series of dynamic panel discussions, keynote speeches, and expert-led sessions by one nigeria's most influential leaders including Tonye Cole, Fola Aiyesimoju, Paul Onwuanibe, JoEllen Gorg, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji. These sessions addressed critical issues such as securing funding, navigating regulatory changes, and embracing digital transformation. These discussions focused on how businesses can stay agile, adapt to market shifts, and thrive in the evolving business landscape.
The energy at DBNC 2025 was undeniably infectious, with attendees leaving the event not only with fresh knowledge but also with actionable insights, stronger networks, and a renewed sense of purpose. The unwavering support of DBNC's sponsors, partners, and exhibitors was integral to the success of the event, underscoring the collective responsibility to drive change and foster growth in Nigeria's business ecosystem.
As DBNC 2025 draws to a close, one thing is clear: the conference has done more than bring people together. It has ignited new conversations, spurred fresh ideas, and created lasting connections that will continue to shape the future of business in Nigeria. The momentum generated here will fuel the efforts of Nigerian entrepreneurs, equipping them to not only face the future but to lead it with confidence and innovation.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Phoenix woman is on a mission to make a 'safe space' for LGBTQ+ business
Sitting in a bright, open-concept coffee shop filled with plants and quirky artwork, Michele White, executive director of the Greater Phoenix Equality Chamber of Commerce, gets caught up on emails and scheduling meetings. Dialog, located on Roosevelt Row in downtown Phoenix, serves as one of White's many offices. Her workday rarely follows a predictable rhythm. She moves seamlessly between meetings with business owners and community events. The coffee shop is owned by a fellow member of the chamber, which serves the Valley's queer- and ally-owned small businesses. Their goal is to uplift entrepreneurs by providing them with visibility, support and access to necessary resources. White, who identifies as queer, leads with adaptability. She juggles advocacy, small business assistance, crisis management and emotional support. 'I'm providing therapy on some level a lot of the time,' she said. 'Small business ownership is hard, and we kind of take that on with them.' That empathetic leadership, combined with nearly three decades of nonprofit and fundraising experience, is what keeps the equality chamber moving forward, even in the face of unprecedented political and economic headwinds. Being 'the glue' in queer business community White took the helm of the equality chamber during a time of transformation, not just for the chamber, but for Arizona's LGBTQ+ business community. What started as a volunteer-run group with a handful of members is now a nonprofit with more than 350 active businesses and three paid staffers. According to Matt Parker, the chamber's board president, White has been a transformative force. 'She brings such heart and depth to the role. She doesn't just run a chamber, she uplifts people,' he said. 'Michele has built trust and relationships across the Valley that you simply can't manufacture. She's the glue.' White listens closely to business owners to identify what they need, then matches them with the right organizations — such as funding agencies, mentorship programs, and technical assistance — often serving as a bridge between the entrepreneurs and their tools for success. 'There are so many resources out there for small businesses, but a lot of these agencies don't have a marketing budget to get the word out,' White said. 'Small business owners don't have the time to go searching; their heads are down just trying to survive.' Many of the people White works with need more than a spreadsheet of grants. They need someone who understands, someone who's been there, and White certainly has. Deep roots in local business community White grew up immersed in her family-run small businesses; her father was a locksmith and her mother ran the books. Her childhood was spent working in her family's home office or helping with their side hustle: a catering company born out of a love for cooking. That early exposure to entrepreneurship shaped her perspective on work, White said. 'It gave me the sense that you can just do what fills your soul,' she said. Later, she brought that same energy to her own endeavors. In 2007, just weeks after completing her master's degree in social work, White took her career in a new direction and bought a coffee shop to ensure it stayed open. She co-founded and operated Fair Trade Cafe, the beloved coffee shop on Central Avenue that remains a cornerstone of the city's progressive community. When White learned the cafe needed $10,000 to stay open, she took action. She didn't have the money, but she saw its potential. 'We had two weeks,' she said. 'We didn't raise the full amount, but I got a call that they were there with the padlock. I told them to write the check and I'd cover it.' She ended up taking a second mortgage on her home to save the space, which at the time was among the only safe gathering spots for progressive and queer communities in Phoenix. 'It was important,' she said. 'Downtown Phoenix looked very different back then. We needed that space.' "My guess is that if we hadn't done what we did in 2007, there'd be a Starbucks or something there," she added. White's experience as a business owner is deeply embedded in her leadership at the chamber. It's what allows her to speak the same language as the entrepreneurs she serves, and to anticipate their challenges before they articulate them. She said she knows what it's like to build a business from scratch and make hard decisions under pressure. She's worked as a nonprofit consultant, fundraising coach, and organizational trainer — often juggling multiple jobs at once. 'I don't remember the last time I did just one thing,' she said. 'That's just how I'm wired.' Building resilience For all the victories, White also acknowledged the toll it takes. 'It's emotionally draining,' she admitted, especially now, during President Trump's anti-LBGTQ+ and pro-ICE second term, she said. "There's a lot of fear in our community. And that fear translates directly into the businesses we support. The mental health toll is probably the hardest part," she added. The chamber, like many nonprofits, has had to make tough choices in recent months due to political and financial uncertainty. At one point earlier this year, the chamber scaled back staff to part-time hours. Despite that, White said she remains relentlessly hopeful. The most exciting part of her work, she said, is witnessing collaboration succeed. 'I've been through 9/11, the 2008 crash, COVID, and now this,' she said. 'They're all different causes, but the result is always the same. You have to stay ahead of it.' Keeping LGBTQ businesses in metro Phoenix strong Her ultimate goal is sustainability — for the chamber, for its members and for the broader LGBTQ+ business community in Phoenix. White's leadership philosophy is rooted in one idea: collaboration over competition. 'There are almost 6 million people in this city,' she said. 'There's no reason for us not to collaborate.' She lit up when she talked about partnerships between members, seeing it not only as a success metric for the chamber but also as a reflection of deeper community resilience. 'When I see true collaboration, where everyone is benefitting and the community grows stronger — that's the fun part,' she said. 'That's the reason I keep doing this.' White's commitment to fostering community ties has extended the chamber's influence in recent years. The chamber now provides direct business consulting, funding access assistance, grant navigation and advocacy training. Parker said White has built something lasting by not just reacting to crises, but planning ahead for them. That kind of foresight is rare, he said. As Phoenix continues to grow and change, White remains a powerful force guiding the city's LGBTQ+ business ecosystem forward, always working to ensure that the community she loves not only survives, but thrives. "In our current environment, LGBTQ folks and businesses don't feel safe everywhere. Michele really makes it her mission to make sure there's a safe space for us," Parker said, "I know that's a passion of hers to make sure that we feel safe and feel heard." This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How Arizona woman is building 'safe space' for LGBTQ+ business Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
A millennial couple grew their side hustle into a business bringing in $4.5 million a year—here's how the cofounder would start it again, with nothing
The Nitro Bar has grown from a $1,500 credit card investment into a $4.5 million coffee company. Its millennial cofounder Audrey Finocchiaro says the secret to success starts with 'ignoring the boomers' and using TikTok to build from the ground up. Like many Gen Zers today, Audrey Finocchiaro and her then-boyfriend, Sam Lancaster, graduated from college a decade ago and were suddenly struck with harsh reality. The millennials had no money and no career direction—taking up serving and bartending jobs at local restaurants to make ends meet while crashing on her parents' futon. But they soon hatched a plan to get out of their 9-to-5 jobs: start a business by building a coffee cart with nitrogen-infused cold brew. So they started their own company, The Nitro bar, by maxing out a credit card to get things off the ground. It was 2016 when the couple leveraged a $1,500 credit limit and scrap wood from Audrey's parents' basement to create a 'glorified box' that would serve as their prototype. The cofounders packed into the back of Finocchiaro's Subaru Outback and took off to Providence, Rhode Island. Their first makeshift cart had no electricity, only being able to hold the equipment used to make the cold brew. To start reeling in customers, the couple would park the cart on city streets and at community events—often unsolicited—to sell their nitrogen-infused cold brew. In those early days, the business brought in $20 to $60 as the couple stood out there for eight hours daily. At first, they became disheartened, as it was hard to make any profit at all. After weeks of little business, the couple was ready to throw in the towel. But then Lancaster had an epiphany: he realized that they hadn't brought the cart to Brown University yet. That fall, when college students flocked back to campus, they struck gold. They realized their key audience was a gaggle of Ivy League kids. ''Dude, you'll never believe it!'' Finocchiaro tells Fortune, recalling what she reported to her boyfriend over the phone. 'We just had a line of people. There were all these students, and I remember that day, I think we made like, $600 which was life-changing for us at the time.' From that day forward, the couple popped up at Brown University every day, as coffee-chugging undergraduates huddled around their cold brew business. From then on, The Nitro Cart started gaining a following on social media, amassing 500,000 followers, while continuing to pop up at events. But everything changed in the spring of 2017. When Finocchiaro and Lancaster were set up at a farmers' market in Providence, they were approached by a pair of investors asking how much money they needed to grow. Finnochairo hadn't thought the cart would turn into a business with bigger potential until that day. The couple and investors created a spreadsheet together and calculated what The Nitro Cart could grow into based on a projected number of stands and accounts for wholesale customers. They crunched the numbers and said they needed about $150,000. 'The next day, we got that money, which was crazy,' says Finocchiaro. Until then, they'd been brewing their cold brew coffee every night in Audrey's uncle's diner. But once the funding rolled in, they immediately set up a production facility and pivoted into wholesale, figuring it was the only way to survive the slow winter months. The money disappeared quickly—largely spent buying a $1,200 kegerator (a small refrigerator designed or adapted to hold a keg from which the cold brew could be dispensed) for each of the 60 wholesale accounts they got on board during their first year. But The Nitro Cart got its second wind when a local bike shop in Providence offered them 200 square feet of space for $400 a month. They jumped on it, funding their first storefront by taking a steep 30% interest loan through Square. Business skyrocketed after the loan, and now the Rhode Island coffee company brings in $4.5 million a year in revenue. It also has 80 employees working at its three brick-and-mortar coffee shops, production facility, and small coffee trailer. The company's cold brew is available on tap at more than 50 other locations across Rhode Island and Massachusetts. How TikTok helped turn a coffee cart into a multimillion-dollar business With over 500,000 followers on TikTok and 130,000 on Instagram, there's no question social media has been one of the key factors in The Nitro Bar's continued success—but it didn't happen overnight. 'We just threw a ton of things at a wall and kept going until we found something that stuck,' Finocchiaro says. 'And for us, that took I think it was seven years until we really started to gain a significant following online.' But today, she admits building out a following on social media is more important than ever. Her advice for new creators is simple: make a running list of ideas in your notes app, post multiple times a day, and stick to a routine to build momentum. 'I think it's an incredible time to start a business, because it can cost $0 to start,' Finnochario says. ' You can have no money and start a TikTok or start an Instagram account. That was monumental for us.' The Nitro Bar's posts include trends of trying different coffee combinations, hacks on what to order, and sampling their favorite menu items. 'How lucky are we to be alive at the same time as blueberry banana lattes,' one of the videos is captioned. It's racked up 80,000 likes. Ignoring boomers and friends helped get the business off the ground. Finocchiaro learned quickly who she wanted to share her business ideas with. 'Ignore the boomers or your friends in sales,' she explained on TikTok. 'The second you tell someone who isn't an entrepreneur what you want to do, they start questioning everything—'Why a coffee shop? There's already a million of them,' or 'If it were that easy, everyone would do it,'' she says. Instead of letting doubt creep in from people who don't understand the risks and mindset required to start something from scratch, she advises limiting those conversations altogether and suggests replying that you're investing in the business for the long game and betting on yourself gives you a higher return. This story was originally featured on Sign in to access your portfolio
NBC News
20 hours ago
- NBC News
Even at 1%, new tax will burden African immigrants who send money back home
A new remittance tax set to begin in the new year has one university student reeling from the implications it will have for her family in Nigeria. Edidiong Chrys, a second-generation Nigerian American, said she thinks the 1% tax passed as part of President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill ' would directly affect the financial lifeline she sends overseas. This tax will be applied to anyone in the U.S. who sends money abroad. 'We regularly send money home to support loved ones, including our elders, children in school, newborns and others in need,' she said. Chrys, 38, said some of the funds sent home have gone to new parents in her family, helping ease the cost of food and traveling to doctors' appointments. The funds also help her uncle, who has a job but also must pay for his five daughters, who are all in school. He and his wife work, but it's still not enough 'to accommodate all the things that need to hold the household down,' Chrys said. And then there's Chrys' 80-year-old grandmother, who was weathering back pain when Chrys visited in January. 'We are paying for the live-in nurse to help her during the week,' she said. 'That's an additional expense that we need to have for her so that she's not bending over.' The tax applies to anyone in the U.S. who sends remittances to their home countries. In 2023, remittances from the U.S. totaled $98 billion, according to the World Bank. Chrys contributes to the $56 billion in remittances sub-Saharan Africa received from people around the world last year. In fact, she said she regularly remits cash — more than 50 times a year — to family and friends. The Center for Global Development, a nonpartisan think tank that focuses on reducing global poverty through economic research, published an analysis last month that listed the tax as yet another financial setback for many nations, given the recent reduction in American aid. Liberia is highly dependent on foreign aid as well as remittances. In 2023, the U.S. accounted for a quarter of the country's foreign aid, and remittances surpassed Liberia's bilateral foreign aid by three times, according to the report. The African Union's outgoing ambassador to the United States, Hilda Suka-Mafudze, said hindering such funding 'threatens to reverse gains in financial inclusion and development across the continent of Africa.' Witney Schneidman, a nonresident senior fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution's Global Economy and Development program, said, 'To put this tax on is just a further constraint on the U.S. effort to work with our partners on the continent.' 'It's not transformational. ... It's just another obstacle to partnership, and it's another obstacle to development,' he said. Schneidman, who also served as deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs in the Clinton administration, condemned the Trump administration for building barriers and not bridges. 'When you add it up with the visa blockages, with the end of the [African Growth and Opportunity Act] AGOA, with the end of USAID, it's just building a wall,' he said. 'The U.S. is building a wall between itself and the world and certainly between itself and Africa.' Suka-Mafudze, whose focus will turn toward the Southern African Development Community region, said that beyond hurting diplomatic ties, blocking remittances is also 'a human issue, because diaspora remittances are lifelines for millions of African families and these remittances often cover essentials, which are food, school fees, medical care and a lot of things. And to impose a tax on that is deeply unjust.' Chrys said the financial burden of sending money home is already heavy, with some stretching limited resources to make ends meet. 'Some people are not making as much to be able to try to support their family back home,' Chrys said. 'When I do get a chance to send money home, sometimes I'm spending it from my refund check.' Democratic Reps. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida and Jonathan L. Jackson of Illinois introduced new legislation called the African Diaspora Investment and Development Act, or AIDA, aimed at reversing the tax's impact. It would also create more transparency in money transfers, among other things. Suka-Mafudze backs the legislation, warning the new tax 'could push people toward informal or unregulated channels, making transactions riskier and less transparent.' Cherfilus-McCormick, the only Haitian American member of Congress right now, warns that a remittance tax would unfairly burden families already struggling to support their loved ones overseas. 'I strongly oppose any effort to tax remittances and will continue fighting for policies that protect immigrant and diaspora communities,' she said in a statement. 'H.R.4586 — AIDA intends to reverse course and instead focus on incentivizing and leveraging on the nearly 100 billion of dollars that Haitian, African and Caribbean Americans send home each year to build sustainable partnerships and strengthen economic development.' Schneidman said the tax has the potential to impact education, health care and families because the bulk of the remittances are family-to-family. That reality is felt most by those sending the money, who see firsthand how even small amounts can make a big difference. 'In the U.S., it might feel like, 'Oh, that's nothing.'' Chrys said. But in Nigeria, 'It's everything because every little money counts.'
