Ifeanyi Onuba, Abuja
The Development Bank of Nigeria has entered into partnership with LAPO Microfinance Bank to support 10,000 businesses in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises sector with low interest loans.
The DBN said in a statement on Tuesday that the loan was part of measures aimed at addressing the financial challenges facing the MSMEs in the country.
The statement quoted the Managing Director, DBN, Mr Tony Okpanachi, to have said that the bank was committed to making funds available to the MSMEs at low interest rates.
This, according to him, is based on the conviction that access to finance by the MSMEs is vital to increasing their contributions to the Gross Domestic Product.
He recalled that LAPO MFB was among the first three banks that the DBN commenced its on-lending activities with in October last year.
Okpanachi said the release of the funds was in line with the decision of the bank to fulfil its three mandates of lending to the MSMEs, provision of partial guarantees to financial institutions and capacity building.
He stated, “This is a milestone achievement and I am particularly happy that we are getting a lot of traction on our lending activities with LAPO. The collaboration is encouraging because it is among the first three microfinance banks we commenced our initial pilot lending with in November 2017.
“I must commend the management team for keying into our business model and I strongly believe we can work together to alleviate the financial constraints faced by the MSMEs.”
The Managing Director, LAPO MFB, Mr Godwin Ehigiamusoe, noted that the disbursement of the loans would catalyse activities of entrepreneurs in that segment of the economy
He said, “We strongly believe in the capacity and potential of the MSMEs in alleviating poverty and creating jobs for our growing population.
“We are happy with the partnership and we will continue to work with the DBN to ensure that collectively, we are able to provide the much-needed funding that the MSMEs require to flourish.”
