Development Bank of Nigeria disburses N482bn to MSMEs

The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), Nigeria’s primary wholesale development finance Institution, says it has disbursed about N482Billion to Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Nigeria since its inception.

It said 65% of the sum was given to women- and youth-owned businesses.

Presenting the summary of the finances, 2021, the DBN Managing Director, Tony Okpanachi told stakeholders that the fundamentals of the Bank’s finances are robust.

Mr Okpanachi attributed the Bank’s financial performance to “its robust corporate governance framework, business model as well as its top-notch enterprise risk management, coupled with highly committed Board, Management and Staff”.

According to him, the Bank has continued to focus on its mandate of providing access to finance through Participating Financial Institutions to Nigeria’s most critical, but underserved Micro- Small- and Medium-Scale Enterprises and providing partial credit guarantees to encourage lending to MSMEs.

“Our cumulative disbursement of N482Billion, especially to women-owned or managed businesses, is something that we are particularly delighted about from the perspective of women empowerment and poverty alleviation,” the MD stressed.

He expressed gratitude to the Bank’s shareholders, development partners, PFIs, Board of Directors and employees for their continued support, promising to remain focused on the Bank’s mandate and to sustain efforts toward achieving sustainable financing and capacity building for the MSMEs.