By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Development Bank of Nigeria Plc, says it disbursed loans totalling N191.9 billion to successful applicants in 2020 as against N101. 5 billion disbursed the previous year.
According to the Bank’s financial report released recently, this growth amounted to 89% surge “in line with its core mandate of facilitating sustainable socio-economic development by improving financial access for MSMEs in Nigeria”.
The Bank also recorded a growth of 4% in total assets from N474.7 billion in 2019 to N493.5 billion in 2020, while outstanding loans increased by 110% from N101.9bn in 2019 to close at N214.0bn in 2020.
“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 which are the engine of growth of the economy.
“Income from loans also grew significantly by 60% year-on-year from N6.6bn in 2019 to N10.5bn in 2020; return on assets and return on equity stood at 4% and 11% respectively for the year ended December 31, 2020. Several cost containment strategies were deployed by the Bank resulting in a 12% decrease in operating expense year on year.
“The Bank’s earnings remained strong at N34.6bn in spite of the harsh global realities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other macroeconomic challenges encountered during the year”, the report further stated.
While giving a scorecard on the Bank’s activities and contribution to the Nigerian economy, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Tony Okpanachi said the Bank worked through its Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) to facilitate increased lending to MSMEs, thereby accelerating economic growth.
Mr. Okpanachi who expressed optimism in the Bank’s capacity to weather the effects of the global pandemic and other challenges said, “We appreciate the full cooperation of our board, management, staff, and other stakeholders as we were able to operate within strict health and safety guidelines, while increasing our reach to our target market.
“By onboarding more Participating Financial Institutions, 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”, adding that “We will continue to focus on our core mandate of driving developmental impact”.
Development Bank of Nigeria Plc is a wholesale development finance institution, established by the Federal Government of Nigeria in collaboration with global development partners (The World Bank, AfDB, KfW, AFD, and EIB) to address the major financing challenges facing Micro, Small, and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria.
DBN carries out this function by providing financial institutions, predominantly Deposit Money and Microfinance Banks with on-lending facilities designed to meet the needs of this segment.
