Lagos: The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) Plc has announced the disbursement of over N1 trillion to more than one million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), supporting the creation of over 1.6 million jobs since its inception. This was revealed by DBN Managing Director, Dr. Tony Okpanachi, during a briefing with newsmen.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Dr. Okpanachi detailed the bank’s future plans, focusing on expanding support for MSMEs through enhanced financial inclusion, increased capital mobilization, and targeted interventions for underserved sectors. DBN aims to reach over two million MSMEs, facilitating the creation of two million direct and indirect jobs over the next five years. The bank targets outstanding loans of N1 trillion and plans to issue N500 billion in guarantees as part of its new strategy, alongside mobilizing N1.3 trillion in debt and equity capital for expansion.
A significant emphasis of the strategy is on inclusion, with 40 percent of loans earmarked for women-led businesses and 30 percent for youth-owned enterprises. Additionally, 15 percent of disbursements are directed to MSMEs in underdeveloped geopolitical zones and focus states. The bank also intends to expand green financing to between N75 billion and N100 billion and train 500,000 MSMEs through its capacity-building programs.
Reviewing DBN’s cumulative impact, Dr. Okpanachi reported onboarding 84 Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs), including commercial banks, microfinance banks, merchant banks, and development finance institutions. Women-owned businesses accounted for 77 percent of beneficiaries, while 28 percent were youth-led enterprises. The bank disbursed N108 billion to over 132,000 MSMEs in economically disadvantaged and conflict-affected states such as Borno, Adamawa, Katsina, Yobe, and Zamfara.
In 2025 alone, DBN disbursed over N358 billion to more than 289,000 beneficiaries and onboarded five additional PFIs. On the performance of DBN’s subsidiary, Impact Credit Guarantee Ltd. (ICGL), Dr. Okpanachi said the company had guaranteed loans exceeding N500 billion since inception, supporting over 93,000 MSMEs and small corporates through more than 130,000 credit guarantees. The subsidiary has also supported over 203,000 jobs and extended thousands of guarantees to businesses in underserved communities.
ICGL has secured partnerships with institutions such as the African Development Bank and the European Investment Bank. Dr. Okpanachi projected a cumulative five-year profit before tax of about N300 billion, balancing developmental impact with strong financial performance to ensure DBN remains a sustainable development finance institution. The bank has maintained stable supervisory ratings from the Central Bank of Nigeria and retained top credit ratings from Agusto and Co. and GCR Ratings.
Mr. Anthony Asonye, Managing Director of ICGL, emphasized the importance of credit guarantees in expanding access to finance for MSMEs. He described credit guarantees as crucial for mitigating lending risks and encouraging financial institutions to extend credit to underserved businesses. Despite SMEs contributing nearly half of Nigeria’s GDP, they receive less than one percent of total banking credit due to challenges such as lack of collateral and perceived risks, which drive interest rates to between 35 percent and 40 percent.
To address these challenges, ICGL, in partnership with the World Bank, operates a credit-collateral substitute scheme designed to de-risk lending to MSMEs. This scheme provides silent guarantees to commercial banks, covering up to 60 percent of default risk for standard loans and up to 75 percent for women and youth-owned businesses. This silent guarantee is a cash-backed collateral substitute, enabling commercial banks to deploy more assets to the SME sector with confidence.