The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) has stated that it will increase its support for small and medium businesses (MSMEs) by increasing its loan portfolio to over N1.8 trillion.
In a statement to reporters in Lagos, the bank’s Managing Director, Tony Okpanachi, said this expansion is part of a five-year plan to promote economic growth and create jobs across the country.
He said that DBN was working to attract N3 trillion in debt and equity to ensure this increase in lending.
According to him, this funding initiative will empower the bank to provide financial resources to more MSMEs, a vital sector for economic growth and job creation in the country.
“We want to scale up what we see, what we did the first five years, the next five years, how do we scale up? And that’s a major thing for us. We believe that, in Nigeria, there’s still a lot more to be done. So, we are very aspirational in terms of what we need to do,” he said.
The managing director noted that, beyond expanding its loan portfolio and funding, DBN’s strategic objectives include a strong emphasis on inclusive growth.
He added that the bank aims for 20 per cent of its lending to support women-led businesses and 40 per cent to benefit businesses owned by the poor.
Okpanachi explained that DBN was also prioritising the growth of green financing and increasing its focus on supporting enterprises in underdeveloped states.
He noted that the plan was to facilitate an additional 800,000 jobs, creating two million over the next five years.
The DBN boss explained, “In terms of job creation, last year, remember, last six years, I told you, we’ve done about 1.2 million. We want to do at least two million in terms of job creation. That means both direct and indirect job creation.
“Along the profitability side, of course, we want to be financially sustainable. So we’re not taking our eyes off financial sustainability.”
Emphasising the bank’s role as a wholesale lender, the DBN boss clarified that the new target was not cumulative but represented a fresh drive to catalyse growth across various sectors.
He said that DBN continued expanding its funding sources by deepening relationships with existing partners and seeking new collaborations to increase debt and equity.
He highlighted ongoing discussions with various international partners and their plans to tap into local capital markets through a bond programme, with the first phase contingent on favourable macroeconomic conditions.
Given the bank’s role as a long-term lender, Okpanachi said, “Strategically, we have to first expand our sources of funding. Two, dip in with the existing ones. How can we get more? Three, how can we use existing ones to catalyse additional ones?” he noted.
He deliberately focused on labour-intensive sectors such as manufacturing and agriculture, noting that they promise significant employment generation.
“This strategic move involves consciously favouring sectors that employ more people over those that are heavily reliant on technology. You see, sectors like manufacturing, sectors that are labour-intensive, agriculture, all those areas, they provide more jobs. So we’re consciously looking at what we find in those sectors that are more labour-intensive,” Okpanachi added.
