LIVE UPDATES
The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) has provided N786 billion in loans to 494,819 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) nationwide since its establishment seven years ago.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Tony Okpanachi, confirmed these figures during an interview in Abuja on Tuesday after presenting the bank’s 2023 integrated & statutory report.
The N786 billion loan represents a 24% growth in support from the previous year's N631 billion and a 58% increase from the number of MSMEs impacted in the preceding year, which was 313,000.
Breaking down the disbursed loans, Okpanachi revealed that N187 billion went to 356,451 women-owned businesses and N81 billion to 120,326 youth-owned businesses.
This aligns with the bank’s commitment to financing the MSMEs market segment and has resulted in the creation of approximately 1.2 million direct and indirect jobs from the loan disbursements.
The bank prioritized loan disbursements by focusing on areas critical to economic growth.
Okpanachi emphasized their commitment to supporting the priority sectors outlined by the federal government, highlighting that N74 billion of their loans were allocated to the manufacturing sector, benefiting 3,696 end borrowers. Additionally, N38 billion was directed to agriculture, reaching 8,163 end-borrowers. These strategic investments underscore the bank’s drive to grow sectors vital to the nation’s economic development.
Okpanachi also emphasized the bank's strategic delivery of technical assistance activities to their Partner Financial Institutions (PFIs) as a cornerstone of their commitment to enhancing PFI capabilities.
Tailored to strategic priorities, their Technical Assistance (TA) programs aim to bolster PFIs’ capacity to deliver products and services while expanding their lending portfolios, ensuring their profitability under market-confirming terms.
Regarding loan repayment progress, Okpanachi stated that it was at 100% as of December 31st, 2023.
