TheCable

The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) says it has disbursed a total sum of N400 billion to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country since its inception in 2017.

Tony Okpanachi, DBN chief executive officer, announced this during the second annual lecture series of the bank which held virtually on Tuesday.

Okpanachi said DBN has lived up to its mandate by providing long term financing, capacity building and partial credit guarantees to small businesses in the country.

“Since commencing operations in 2017, we have disbursed over N400bn in loans to over 150,000 Nigerian SMEs out of which 27 percent are women owned and 26 percent new owned businesses respectively. This has led to the creation of over 130,000 jobs,” he said.

“In the year 2020 alone, the sum of N190bn was disbursed through 19 private finance initiatives (PFIs) out of which N9.8bn was to 6,935 first time borrowers, N5.7bn to 9,066 youths, N11.8bn to 25,171 women-owned businesses.

“Cumulatively, 83 percent reported an increase in their sales after obtaining the loan, while 48 percent were able to increase their staff strength after receiving the facility.”

In his remarks, Shehu Yahaya, board chairman of DBN, said the bank’s five-year strategic plan which includes expanding its reach, advocating for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and expanding its capacity among others has become more crucial in the face of difficulties in Nigeria.