DBN gets ‘AAA’ rating from Agusto & Co

The foremost credit rating agency, Agusto & Co. (“Agusto”) assigns an “AAA” rating on the Development Bank of Nigeria Plc (DBN), the highest rating possible on any institution.

In summarizing the rating, which aligns with the “risk-free” rating of the Nigerian Sovereign, Agusto described DBN as “a development finance institution of impeccable financial condition and overwhelming capacity to meet obligations as and when they fall due”. In pursuit of its mandate of enhancing access to credit for micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs), DBN continues to expand the scope of its operations, onboarding more Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) and deepening credit penetration in the low end of the market, particularly amongst women entrepreneurs, who represent over 50% of the bank’s ultimate credit beneficiaries.

As observed by Agusto, “Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, DBN increased its financial support to Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) and small-sized corporates through participating financial institutions”. Notwithstanding the pandemic, DBN doubled its loan portfolio to N215.1billion, leveraging its robust risk management practice in deepening credit penetration to over 136,000 MSMEs.

Further reiterating the impeccable fundamentals of DBN, Agusto highlighted DBN’s good asset quality, good capitalization, good liquidity, and experienced management team are also positive rating factors”. Since its inception, DBN has sustained an outstanding asset quality record of nil delinquency, unique fundamentals which attest to the efficacy of its credit creation model and overall risk management culture.

Commenting on the rating action, the Managing Director/CEO, Development Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Tony Okpanachi said, “we are excited by this independent assessment of our operations, as it provides an objective opinion on the bank’s credibility and capacity in meeting short and long-term obligations.

“The rigorous and detailed process underlying Agusto’s rating is quite commendable, and I am pleased that the bank was assigned “Aaa”, the highest rating possible. Interestingly, this rating action aligns with a recent decision of Global Credit Ratings (GCR), another foremost rating agency that also assigned “AAA” national scale rating on DBN.”