The Federal Government has said that the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) has disbursed N324 billion in loans to about 136,000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) within a period of 4 years.
These facilities were disbursed to 136,000 beneficiaries who got the funds through 40 participating financial institutions.
According to The Punch, this disclosure is contained in a document obtained from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning on social investment and poverty alleviation by the Federal Government, as well as the performance of some key agencies.
The Federal Government, in the document, said, “As at the end of 2020, Development Bank of Nigeria (which commenced operations in 2017) had disbursed N324 billion in loans to more than 136,000 MSMEs. This (disbursement) was through 40 participating financial institutions; 57 per cent of the beneficiaries are women-owned MSMEs, while 27 per cent are youth-owned.”
While confirming the figures released by the Federal Ministry of Finance, DBN, in some documents obtained from it, said that it recorded 34,147 end borrowers during the review period as well as disbursed N283 million to MSMEs start-ups, with a women count of 25,172.
DBN also stated that over N9 billion was given to business owners who accessed credit from the bank for the first time and its first time access to credit count was 6,935, with its youth count at 9,066.
The bank explained that it was partnering with shareholders in its activities, with a key role being played by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning.
It said DBN had partnerships with leading multilateral institutions and strategic alliances with development partners such as the African Development Bank, the World Bank and Agence Française de Development.
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What you should know
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.
The development finance institution had, earlier in the year, reported that it disbursed the sum of N191.9 billion as loans to MSMEs in 2020, representing 89% increase compared to N101.5 billion recorded in 2019.