Chairman, Development Bank of Nigeria, DBN, Dr Shehu Yahaya, has said that the bank was set up as a wholesale development finance institution, providing sustainable financing through eligible Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs), who would in turn lend to end-borrowers such as Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) for the development of the sector.
He said this at the opening of the bank’s Lagos office, located on Idejo Street in Victoria Island, to service the PFIs domiciled in the commercial city.
Yahaya stated: “We have realised the need to bring the business closer to PFIs that are supposed to benefit from our services here in Lagos. The Lagos operations will accelerate our engagement with the PFIs and facilitate ease of disbursement to them to alleviate the financing constraints faced by MSMEs, which are undoubtedly the engine room of the economy.”
In his remark, Managing Director of DBN, Tony Okpanachi, assured MSMEs that the vision of the bank is to be Nigeria’s primary development finance institution, thereby promoting growth and sustainability of MSMEs by providing financial services, Credit Guarantees and advisory services.
According to Okpanachi, the commissioning of the Lagos Operations will lead to an improvement in various economic indices such as job creation, poverty alleviation and increase investment in human capital.
“DBN loan cuts across all sectors of the economy. Our operation in addition to our mandate, seeks to achieve the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles (NSBP) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), where financial inclusion ranks high, as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and it’s also, in line with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the Federal Government,” he stated.