A total of N191.7 billion was disbursed as loans by the Development Bank of Nigeria Plc to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). In its 2020 financial report released Thursday, the amount represents a 89% rise from N101.5 billion disbursed by the Bank in 2019.
This growth is in line with its core mandate of facilitating sustainable socio-economic development by improving financial access for MSMEs in Nigeria.
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 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.
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.
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.
Giving a scorecard on the Bank’s activities and contribution to the 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 expressed optimism in the Bank’s capacity to weather the effects of the global pandemic and other challenges.
“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,” he said.
He added that “We will continue to focus on our core mandate of driving developmental impact”.
