THE Lagos office of Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) has been opened to service teeming participating financial institutions (PFIs) domiciled in the commercial capital of the country. The office which is located on Idejo Street in Victoria Island was declared open on Friday, June 22, 2018 by the bank’s chairman, Dr Shehu Yahaya.
It is set up as a wholesale development finance institution (DFI) providing sustainable financing through eligible PFIs. These institutions would, in turn, lend to end-borrowers – Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) for the development of that segment.
Speaking at the commissioning of its Lagos office, the chairman of the Board, Dr Yahaya, said that the remarkable success of the bank within the short period of commencing operations has been because of the enthusiasm and support by the various financial institutions that have embraced the DBN offering of empowering the all-important segment of the nation’s economy – the MSMEs.
According to him, “We have realised the need to bring the business closer to the PFIs that are supposed to benefit from our services here in Lagos. The Lagos operations will accelerate our engagement with the PFIs and facilitate ease of disbursement to them to alleviate the financing constraints faced by Micro Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) which are undoubtedly the engine room of the economy.”