May 19, (THEWILL) – The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) has unveiled a 5-year strategic plan to bolster the growth and expansion of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country amid a troubled macroeconomic environment.
The Bank’s 5-year strategic plan encapsulated in the acronym, SCALE – Supporting Capital Access, Lending and Execution for its MSME development projects – focuses on Accelerating its impact to reach over 2 million MSMEs and Growing Guarantees Issued to 500 billion Naira.
Others include Growing loans outstanding to N1 trillion; Crowding-in N1.3 trillion of new debt and equity capital; Increasing impact on targeted groups, segments, and geographies; Catalyse 2 million new direct and indirect job creation; and Achieving cumulative 5-Year DBN Profit Before Tax (PBT) of c.300 billion naira
The disclosure was made at a media parley with the Managing Director of the bank, Tony Okpanachi, in Lagos, where the DBN boss emphasised on the financial institution’s determination of reinforcing its support for the MSMEs amid Nigeria’s troubled economy.
“In this 5-year strategic plan, we will step up our support for the MSMEs in accordance with our mandate to help them survive the macroeconomic challenges that businesses are facing — for the overall development of the economy,” Okpanachi said.
Data from the Bank’s 2024 performance document revealed that it has disbursed over N1tn to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises through 79 participating financial institutions across the country.
DBN’s support also reached more than 69,000 MSMEs operating in economically disadvantaged states such as Borno, Yobe, Katsina, Zamfara, and Adamawa.
According to the bank, 74 per cent of the beneficiaries of its financial interventions were women, while 25 per cent were youths. In terms of human capacity development, the Bank noted that it had trained more than 9,500 MSMEs across Nigeria.
“The bank’s Technical Assistance Programme has supported 20 participating financial institutions to improve their ability to lend to MSMEs, with over 711,000 MSME beneficiaries recorded. More than 1.2 million jobs have been created through our various interventions since inception,” Okpanachi stated.
He said the bank has received top recognitions, including an “AAA” rating by Agusto & Co. and GCR, as well as accolades such as the Global SME Finance Awards and the World Bank’s Best Project in Nigeria.
He also highlighted that DBN had secured Green Climate Fund accreditation and emerged first in the Transparency and Integrity Index in 2022 and 2023.
At the 8th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Bank held in Abuja on April 30, 2025, shareholders of the development bank approved the sum of N5.83 billion as dividend for the 2024 financial year.
This translated to N58.35 kobo per unit of shares held by shareholders.
The shareholders further approved the bank’s bid to invest $2.5 million in Naira equivalent, and take equity share in the proposed Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank (YEIB).
The DBN’s shareholders include the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), African Development Bank (AfDB), and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The federal government remains the ultimate beneficial owner of the shares held by MOFI and NSIA in DBN.
Speaking at the AGM, Independent Non-Executive Director, DBN, Mr. Kyari Bukar, said the group achieved a strong financial performance, closing with a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N38.8 billion, representing 60 per cent increase from N24.5 billion in 2023.
While Return on Average Assets (ROAA) rose to six per cent, compared to 10 4.6 percent in 2023, Shareholders’ value was also enhanced, as Return on Average Equity (ROAE) increased to 15.3 percent in 2024 from 10.9 percent in 2023.
The Bank continued to operate efficiently, reducing the cost to income ratio to 15.6 percent in the review period from 17.9 percent in 2023. It achieved a remarkable 53 percent growth in gross earnings, rising to N84 billion in 2024 from N54.8 billion in 2023.
The growth was primarily driven by an increase in volume of disbursements throughout the year and higher yields on the average loan portfolio.
Furthermore, income from loans increased by 55 percent, to N58.5 billion compared to N37.8 billion in 2023.
In addition, total assets size grew by 40 percent year-on-year to N759.1 billion in 2024 from N544 billion 2023. Total assets grew at 11 per cent CAGR over five years period, increasing from N493.5 billion in 2020 to N759.1 billion by December 31, 2024.
The growth reflected a strategic focus on lending, as evidenced by the bank’s record disbursement of N273 billion in the year.
This underscored its commitment to playing a catalytic role in improving MSMEs access to finance.
The DBN is a wholesale finance institution that provides funding for Micro, Small, and Medium-Scale Enterprises (MSMEs).
Its mandate include:
-Increase access to finance for MSMEs by lending to Participating Financial Institutions (Commercial Banks, Micro Finance Banks and other DFIs) for on-lending to this segment.
-Provide Capacity Building for Participating Financial Institutions to enhance their ability and willingness to lend to the MSME segment.
-Provide Partial Credit Guarantees for Participating Financial Institutions to encourage them to take the risk of lending to MSMEs
DBN was incorporated on September 19, 2014, and began operations as a wholesale development finance institution on November 1, 2017. Its mission remains to drive sustainable socio-economic development by improving access to finance for Nigeria’s underserved MSMEs.
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.
