Since its inception, the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), Nigeria’s primary wholesale development finance institution, has disbursed approximately N482 billion to micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises in Nigeria. Approximately 65% of the sum was reportedly given to women and youth-owned businesses.
The DBN’s Managing Director, Mr. Tony Okpanachi, assured stakeholders during the presentation of the financial summary for (vis) that the bank’s fundamentals remain strong.
“Its solid corporate governance framework, business strategy, as well as top-notch enterprise risk management, paired with a highly committed board, management, and staff,” He said of the bank’s financial performance.
According to him, the Bank has remained focused on its mission of providing access to finance to Nigeria’s most essential, but poorly served micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises through participating financial institutions, as well as providing partial credit guarantees to motivate lending to MSMEs.
“We are particularly pleased by our cumulative disbursement of N482 billion, particularly to women-owned or managed enterprises,” the MD said.
The MSMEs Survival Fund from the Development Bank
He thanked the bank’s shareholders, development partners, PFIs, board of directors, and employees for their continuous support, promising to stay focused on the bank’s mandate and continue efforts to provide MSMEs with long-term finance and capacity building.
Dr. Dikko Radda, Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), stated this at a roundtable discussion organized by TADI in cooperation with SMEDAN in Abuja.
Both the public and private sectors have roles to play in the sustainable development of MSMEs in Nigeria, according to the SMEDAN DG, who was represented by Wale Fasanya, Director, Planning, Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation.
According to him, the agency’s conditional grant program has benefited 20,230 microbusinesses.
“According to the […] MSME Survey, there are 39 million MSMEs in Nigeria,” the SMEDAN DG added. This represents a substantial decrease from the 41 million MSMEs recorded in the 2017 Survey Report. The COVID-19 epidemic, obstacles MSMEs face in acquiring financing to establish or grow their businesses, and globalization issues are all contributing to the decline in the number of MSMEs.
“Power, funding/finance, tax, and security are the top priority areas of help for MSMEs, according to the 2021 MSME Survey Report.”
SMEDAN, he assured, will continue to make sure that everything that needs addressing to boost this critical sub-sector is done.