By Emma Ujah,  Abuja Bureau Chief
MANAGING Director/Chief Executive, Development Bank of Nigeria, DBN, Mr. Tony Okpanachi, has said that the bank, through its partnership with LAPO Micro Finance Bank, has achieved a milestone in funding of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs, in the country. He stated this while commenting on the bank’s extension of credit to 10,000 MSMEs, through LAPO.

Crowd in front of a banks

He said, “This is a milestone achievement and I am particularly happy that we are getting a lot of traction on our lending activities with LAPO. The collaboration is encouraging because LAPO was among the first three microfinance banks we commenced our initial pilot lending with in November 2017. I must commend the management team for keying into our business model and I strongly believe we can work together to alleviate the financial constraints faced by MSMEs”.

On LAPO’s commitment to the development of MSMEs in Nigeria, the Managing Director/Chief Executive, Godwin Ehigiamusoe said, “We strongly believe in the capacity and potentials of the MSMEs in alleviating poverty and creating jobs for our growing population. We are happy with the partnership and we will continue to work with DBN to ensure that collectively, we are able to provide the much-needed funding that the MSMEs require flourishing.”

According to the International Finance Corporations (IFC) MSME Finance Gap Report in 2017, there are over 37 million MSMEs contributing to over 50 percent of Nigeria’s GDP. However, less than five percent of these businesses have access to credit in the financial system. DBN’s entrance and its interventions are therefore, relevant and timely. They will reverse this trend by making it easier for MSMEs to access financing to build and expand their businesses and unleash the power of the MSME business segment to drive national economic development.