Uche Usim, Abuja
The Managing Director, Development Bank of Nigeria Plc (DBN), Mr Tony Okpanachi, has said that the bank created 3,192 jobs in 2019 through a robust Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) empowerment strategy that saw the disbursement of over N100 billion to over 100,000 MSMEs cumulatively.
Mr Okpanachi made the disclosure in his address at the DBN’s first virtual 3rd Annual General Meeting which held recently in Abuja in compliance with Federal Government and National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) social distancing guidelines.
While giving a scorecard on the bank’s activities and contribution to the Nigerian economy, he said the bank, working through its Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) has facilitated an increase in MSME revenue, as well as assets. He stated that DBN has focused on engendering gender equality in its loan distribution and empowered youths with 52% of the total loan disbursed to these segments in 2019.
‘Through our 27 Participating Financial Institutions, over N100BN was disbursed last year, impacting cumulatively over 100,000 MSMEs. So far, 3,192 jobs have been created leading to an increase of 10% in MSMEs revenue and a 6.8% increase in the value of their land assets. Also, 52% of loans disbursed in 2019 were to youths and women-owned businesses. This is in our bid to promote economic empowerment and gender equality,’ he said.
He further stated that DBN has also set up a Credit Guarantee Subsidiary, Impact Credit Guarantee Company Limited with the aim of de-risking the MSME sector by sharing risks with the PFIs to encourage them to lend to this critical sector of the economy. He added that DBN also delivered capacity building programs for MSMEs across the six geopolitical zones of the Federation.
The DBN boss assured shareholders that the bank was on the right trajectory and focused its strategy on driving sustainable economic growth. He informed that the Bank was currently expanding its distribution network to include other non-banking financial institutions and working on some concessions to PFIs as well as de-risking of SME lending through the subsidiary, ICGL to increase participation. He said the strategy will also cover the delivery of technical assistance to PFIs and capacity building programs for MSMEs all geared towards encouraging uptake of the DBN funds by PFIs for on lending.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Bank, Dr Shehu Yahaya commended the Federal Government for its commitment and efforts as well as the selfless health workers for their dedication towards tackling the deadly COVID 19 pandemic. He expressed his condolences to those who have lost loved ones while celebrating the gallantry of survivors, stating that ‘their gallantry gives us hope that we will emerge victorious from this deadly pandemic.’
Development Bank of Nigeria Plc is a wholesale development finance institution, established by the Federal Government of Nigeria in collaboration with global development partners (The World Bank, AfDB, Kfw, AFD and EIB) to address the major financing challenges facing Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria. DBN carries out this function by providing financial institutions, predominantly Deposit-Money and Microfinance Banks with on lending facilities designed to meet the needs of this segment. The bank commenced operations in 2017.