TheCable

Tony Okpanachi, the managing director of Development Bank of Nigeria (pictured), says the bank is hoping to have disbursed loans worth N100 billion by the end of 2019.

Speaking at a presentation at the just-concluded spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, the director said the bank has disbursed N31 billion so far.

“The last two years have been exciting for us we started from scratch and we have been able to do N31 billion in terms of loans in different sectors of the economy and have reached 5000 end borrowers through the financial institutions we deal with,” he said.

The bank was set up in 2017 to provide credit to micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) through participating financial institutions.

The bank is a wholesale development finance institution meaning that it cannot give loans directly to interested parties.

“At the moment, we have 29 financial institutions on board with us made up of commercial banks, we are now telling the public that you have options of which bank to go to, they are all listed on our website.

“The process is simple, go to your bank and ask for a DBN loan, once you meet the eligibility criteria with your bank, the bank comes to us with your agreement. 80% of the loans we gave out last year were to customers of microfinance banks; they come in large numbers even though they ask for small amounts.”

According to the managing director, MSMEs from any sector can get loans with a maximum of 18 months moratorium and 10 years repayment period.

“For micro businesses, the maximum loan is N10 million, from the small and medium businesses go up to N150 million and we have a program for small corporates where they can take up to N600 million.”

The World Bank is one of the supporters of the bank; providing a loan of $500 million.