DBN Plc Disburses N482bn To MSMEs

• 65% goes to Women, youth-owned businesses
• Excites shareholders at AGM with N22.76bn PBT

BY COBHAM NSA – Nigeria’s primary wholesale development finance Institution, Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) Plc, has unveiled N482 billion as its total disbursement to Micro, Small, and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria since its inception.

The Bank told excited shareholders at its 5th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Abuja on Tuesday that deliberately, 65 percent of the facility was accessed by women and youth-owned businesses.

This cheering news came from the DBN Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Tony Okpanachi, who presented a summary of the financial statement for the year ended December 31, 2021, at the meeting.

According to him, the stakeholders should rest assured that the fundamentals of the Bank’s financials are robust despite the global economic challenges.

He said the impressive performance is reflected in the Bank’s total gross earnings which closed at N38.18 billion, while Profit Before Tax (PBT) stood at N22.76 billion, representing an increase of 25 percent from the previous year’s record.

Similarly, its total assets also grew by 1.4 percent from N492.3 billion in 2020 to N499.2 billion in the year under review.

The Managing Director attributed the Bank’s financial performance to “its robust corporate governance framework, business model as well as its top-notch enterprise risk management coupled with a highly committed Board of Directors, Management and Staff.

“This is something that I am very proud of. We continued to focus and deliver on our mandate of providing access to finance through our Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) to Nigeria’s most critical, but underserved Micro, Small, and Medium Scale Enterprises building their capacity and that of the PFIs in addition to the provision of partial credit guarantee to encourage lending to this very important sub-sector of the economy”.

“Our cumulative disbursement of N482Billion especially to women-owned or managed businesses; is something that we are particularly delighted about from the perspective of women empowerment and poverty alleviation.”

In expressing gratitude to the Bank’s shareholders, development partners, PFIs, Board of Directors, and employees for their continued support, Mr Okpanachi said the institution will not renege on staying focused on its mandate delivery as well as coordinating efforts to achieve sustainable financing and capacity building for the MSMEs.

Commenting on the Bank’s financial reports, a partner with KPMG Professional Services, the external auditors of the Bank, Kabir Okunlola confirmed that the summary of the financial statement presented at the AGM complied with the relevant statutory requirements.

“In our opinion, the accompanying summary financial information is consistent, in all material respects, with the audited financial statements, and also in compliance with the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020, as well as the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020″, Okunlola submitted