In Five Years, DBN Disbursed N334bn To MSMEs

The Managing Director/Chief Executive, Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), Dr. Tony Okpanachi, has said the bank disbursed N334 billion to 135,000 Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) between 2017 and 2020 which was its last audited financial period.

However, he said financing support to small businesses had exceeded N482 billion to over 208,000 MSMEs by the end of 2021.

Okpanachi also said the bank’s profitability remained resilient despite the low-interest rate environment and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the business environment.

Speaking during an interactive session with journalists, the DBN boss said Profit Before Tax (PBT) and Profit After Tax (PAT) stood at N18.8 billion and N17.9 billion respectively, translating to returns on assets and equity of 4 per cent and 11 per cent respectively for 2020.

He said the bank would continue to strengthen its capital base in order to scale up its interventions to MSMEs.

He said, “This is one of our strategic initiatives which requires our continuous effort to crowd-in more investments. To this end, we are on that pathway.”

The DBN boss also disclosed that since 2017 when it commenced operations, the bank was yet to record any Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) in its books adding that this “gives credence to the great work of the entire team at DBN”.

He said, “Since inception, the institution has fared exceptionally well across various areas and this underscores our drive for sustainability, which is one of our core values.

“For us, this means that while we are in business to provide financing support for MSMEs, we strive to be financially sustainable, ensuring we create social impact for MSMEs and the communities around us.

“And also ensuring our activities do not adversely affect the state of our environment but rather contribute to its resilience and sustainability.”