Despite the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) increased its loan disbursement to ₦191.7 billion in 2020.
In a statement explaining its 2020 annual report, the financial institution jointly owned by World Bank, AfDB, KfW, AFD, and EIB to address the major financing challenges facing MSMEs in Nigeria said the figure was 89 per cent above the ₦101.5 billion total disbursements for 2019.
The Bank recorded a growth of 4 per cent in total assets from N474.7 billion in 2019 to N493.5 billion in 2020, while outstanding loans increased by 110 per cent from N101.9bn in 2019 to close at ₦214.0bn in 2020.
DBN finances MSMEs by providing financial institutions, predominantly deposit money and microfinance banks with on-lending facilities designed to meet the needs of this segment.
“Income from loans also grew significantly by 60 per cent year-on-year from ₦6.6bn in 2019 to ₦10.5bn in 2020; return on assets and return on equity stood at 4 per cent and 11 per cent respectively for the year ended December 31, 2020.
The statement noted that DBN deployed several cost containment strategies resulting in a 12 per cent decrease in operating expense year on year.
The Bank’s earnings remained strong at ₦34.6bn in spite of the harsh global realities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other macroeconomic challenges encountered during the year.
DBN Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr Tony Okpanachi, said the bank worked through its Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) to facilitate increased lending to MSMEs, thereby accelerating economic growth.
Mr Okpanachi expressed optimism in the Bank’s capacity to weather the effects of the global pandemic and other challenges thus: “We appreciate the full cooperation of our board, management, staff, and other stakeholders as we were able to operate within strict health and safety guidelines while increasing our reach to our target market.
By onboarding more Participating Financial Institutions, we were able to deepen financial inclusion for more MSMEs whose businesses were adversely affected by the pandemic, thereby injecting a new lease of life and providing the right environment for their sustained growth.”
He added that “We will continue to focus on our core mandate of driving developmental impact.”
Development Bank of Nigeria Plc is a wholesale development finance institution, established by the Federal Government of Nigeria in collaboration with global development partners.
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Despite COVID-19, DBN disbursed ₦191.7bn loans in 2020