Development Bank of Nigeria exceeds first-year projections

L-R, Mr. Idris Salihu, Head Corporate Services, Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN); Mr. Tony Okpanachi, MD/CEO, DBN, and Dr. Tunji Olugbodi, Executive Vice Chairman, Verdant Zeal Group, at the DBN Media Interactive Forum held on Thursday, in Lagos.

THE Managing Director, Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), Mr. Tony Okpanachi, on Thursday, disclosed that the bank in its first year of operations exceeded its projected performance with a total loan disbursement of N31.36 billion to 35,000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Presenting a scorecard of the bank’s performance in its first year of operations to the media in Lagos, Okpanachi stated that DBN formally commenced lending operations in October 2017 to its first two participating financial institutions, adding that with the strong on-boarding exercise it carried out within the year, the bank currently now has a total of 29 participating financial institutions (PFIs) which include commercial banks at various stages of engagement.

“Our total disbursement-to-date stands at N31.364 billion thus exceeding our year-end projection of N30 billion. Total number of end borrowers stands at 35, 000 which also exceeded our year-end target of 20,000 MSMEs.

“Women accounted for 73 per cent of the end-borrowers of the DBN loans and received 27 per cent of the total amounts disbursed,” he added.

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Spurred by the achievements attained in its first year of operations, Okpanachi hinted that the bank’s disbursement target for the year 2019 has increased to N70 billion and is expected to help deepen the bank’s penetration in the MSMEs sector of the economy.

As a proof of the bank’s professionalism, the DBN boss also noted the bank has been recommended for various ISO certifications such as Information Security- ISO 27001; Business Continuity ISO 22301 and IT Service Management ISO 20000.

The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) was set up as a wholesale development finance institution (DFI) to provide sustainable financing through eligible Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs), who would in turn, lend to end-borrowers – Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), for the development of that segment.

With a vision to be Nigeria’s primary development finance institution; promoting growth and sustainability, DBN seeks to fulfill three key mandates which include, lending activities to MSMEs, partial credit guarantees and capacity building.