The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) Plc reported that it had disbursed more than N1 trillion to over one million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and helped in creating over 1.6 million jobs since it commenced operations.
The Managing Director of the development finance bank, Dr Tony Okpanachi, who gave these figures during his interaction with journalists on Wednesday in Lagos, said the next phase of the bank’s growth would focus on expanding support to the MSMEs through financial inclusion drive, increased capital mobilisation and targeted interventions for underserved sectors.
He said the bank planned to reach more than two million MSMEs and facilitate the creation of two million direct and indirect jobs over the next five years.
The banker said: “Our strategic intent over this period is to achieve scale by expanding support for MSMEs and strengthening inclusive economic growth.”
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Okpanachi hinted that the bank would be targeting outstanding loans of N1 trillion and planned to issue N500 billion in guarantees under the new strategy, adding that DBN also seeks to mobilise N1.3 trillion in debt and equity capital to drive its expansion plans.
According to him, the strategy places strong emphasis on inclusion, with 40% of loans earmarked for women-led businesses and 30% for youth-owned enterprises.
He further clarified that 15% of disbursements would be directed at MSMEs in underdeveloped geopolitical zones and focus states even as he maintained that development finance lender also planned to expand green financing to between N75 billion and N100 billion and train 500,000 MSMEs through its various capacity-building programmes.
Reflecting on the bank’s operational impact on the economy, Okpanachi said DBN had onboarded 84 Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs), comprising commercial banks, microfinance banks, merchant banks and development finance institutions.
While noting that women-owned businesses account for 77% of beneficiaries and youth-led enterprises accounted for 28%, the development finance expert disclosed that the bank disbursed N108 billion to more than 132,000 MSMEs in economically-disadvantaged and conflict-affected states, including Borno, Adamawa, Katsina, Yobe and Zamfara over the past years.
Okpanachi said DBN disbursed over N358 billion to more than 289,000 beneficiaries in 2025 alone and onboarded five additional PFIs.
On the performance of DBN’s subsidiary, Impact Credit Guarantee Ltd. (ICGL), which was established in partnership with the World Bank, he said the company had guaranteed over N500 billion loans since inception.
He explained that the ICGL had supported more than 93,000 MSMEs and small enterprises through over 130,000 credit guarantees, adding that it had also supported more than 203,000 jobs and extended thousands of guarantees to businesses in underserved communities.
Similarly, Okpanachi disclosed that ICGL had partnered institutions such as the African Development Bank (AfDB)and the European Investment Bank (EIB) in its loan disbursements to needy entities in the country.
On financial sustainability, he projected a cumulative five-year profit before tax of about N300 billion for the DBN
He said: “We are balancing developmental impact with strong financial performance to ensure DBN remains a sustainable development finance institution.”
He disclosed that the bank had maintained stable supervisory ratings from the Central Bank of Nigeria and retained top credit ratings from Agusto & Co. and GCR Ratings.
In his remarks, Managing Director of ICGL, Mr. Anthony Asonye, harped on the importance of credit guarantees in expanding access to finance for MSMEs.
Asonye described credit guarantees as a critical instrument for mitigating lending risks and encouraging financial institutions to extend credit to underserved businesses.
He lamented that the informal sector, which constitutes a significant share of Nigeria’s economy, had been contending with limited access to formal financing due to perceived risks by commercial lenders.
Specifically, the finance expert pointed out that Nigeria had about 41 million registered SMEs, which are contributing between 45% and 49% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but just receiving less than one per cent of total commercial bank lending in the economy.
