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By Uche Usim
The Development Bank of Nigeria Plc (DBN) is targeting to reach over two million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the next five years, as it ramps up lending, credit guarantees and capacity-building efforts to deepen financial inclusion and drive economic growth.
This forms part of the bank’s new medium-term strategic direction unveiled at its June 2026 media parley, where it highlighted milestones achieved since commencing operations in 2017 and outlined plans to scale impact across underserved segments of the economy.
DBN Managing Director, Tony Okpanachi, disclosed this at a media meeting on Wednesday. He disclosed that the bank has disbursed more than N1 trillion in loans to MSMEs through participating financial institutions, while facilitating over one million end-beneficiary loans nationwide.
He noted that the bank’s intervention has been largely inclusive, with 77 per cent of beneficiaries being women and 28 per cent youth.
In 2025 alone, OK panache said the bank disbursed over N358 billion, supporting about 289,000 businesses.
Of this figure, N59 billion went to more than 63,000 MSMEs in economically disadvantaged states including Borno, Adamawa, Katsina, Yobe and Zamfara.
Beyond financing, the institution said it has strengthened capacity building, training over 52,000 MSMEs across the country and supporting more than 20 participating financial institutions with technical assistance to improve lending to small businesses. It added that its interventions have contributed to the creation of over 1.6 million jobs since inception, with 376,000 jobs recorded in 2025 alone.
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As part of its risk-sharing strategy, the DBN boss revealed that it has issued over N512 billion in credit guarantees to more than 100,000 MSMEs since 2019, with N233 billion guarantees covering about 39,000 businesses in 2025.
The guarantees are designed to encourage banks and other lenders to extend credit to riskier but viable small enterprises.
The bank operates a wholesale lending model, providing funds to commercial banks, microfinance banks and other development finance institutions for on-lending to MSMEs. It also offers partial credit guarantees and advisory services aimed at improving access to finance for underserved groups.
In the future, the DBN boss said its five-year strategy will focus on achieving scale by growing its loan book to N1 trillion and expanding guarantees to N500 billion. It also plans to mobilise about N1.3 trillion in new debt and equity capital to support lending activities.
In line with its inclusion agenda, the bank targets allocating 40 per cent of loans to women-led businesses and 30 per cent to youth-led enterprises. It also aims to channel at least 15 per cent of its lending to underdeveloped regions, while increasing green financing to between N75 billion and N100 billion.
The strategy further projects cumulative profit before tax of about N300 billion over the five-year period, alongside the creation of two million direct and indirect jobs.
Okpanachi also highlighted strong institutional credibility, noting it has maintained a “low” and “stable” supervisory rating from the Central Bank of Nigeria for four consecutive years. It added that it currently holds top-tier “AAA” ratings from Agusto & Co. and GCR, reflecting strong governance and financial performance.
The bank said it would continue to leverage partnerships with global institutions such as the World Bank and other development partners to deepen its impact and support Nigeria’s broader economic development agenda.
