By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief

There has been a sharp rise in aggregate loans to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) from the Development Bank of Nigeria Plc (DBN).

The development finance institution disbursed the sum of N191.9 billion as loans to MSMEs last year, representing 89 percent increase compared to N101.5 billion recorded in 2019.

DBN is a wholesale development finance institution, established by the Federal Government of Nigeria in collaboration with global development partners including the World Bank, African Development Bank (ADB), KfW Development Bank of Germany, French Agency for Development, and European Investment Bank to address the major financing challenges facing MSMEs in Nigeria.

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Analysis of the DBN’s financial statement released yesterday also indicated that the total loans portfolio increased by 110 percent to close at N214 billion in 2020 from N101.9 billion in 2019, while a growth of 4.0 percent in total assets to N493.5 billion from N474.7 billion was recorded.

The financial position shows that the mix of earnings assets tilted further in favour of loans rather than investments as the bank continues to ramp up lending to small businesses in Nigeria.

“Income from loans also grew significantly by 60 percent year-on-year from N6.6 billion in 2019 to N10.5 billion in 2020; return on assets and return on equity stood at 4 percent and 11 percent respectively for the year ended December 31, 2020. Several cost containment strategies were deployed by the bank resulting in a 12 percent decrease in operating expense year on year.”

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Tony Okpanachi, said that the bank worked through its Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) to facilitate increased lending to MSMEs, thereby accelerating economic growth.

“By on-boarding more PFIs, 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. We will continue to focus on our core mandate of driving developmental impact,” Okpanachi stated.