11th October, 2021
In commemoration of the 2021 Customers Service Week, Development Bank of Nigeria celebrated its Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs), with a Service Ambassadors Awards ceremony, in recognition of their contribution to the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Nigeria.
At the event held in Lagos on Thursday, Access Bank, LAPO Microfinance Bank, Fidelity Bank and First City Monument Bank, received recognition awards from DBN as most active PFIs in loan disbursement to MSMEs in Nigeria for the year 2020.
In his welcome address, DBN Managing Director, Tony Okpanachi, appreciated the PFIs which according to him have been crucial to achieving the bank’s objective.
“We appreciate your partnership. You have made our objectives possible. We are a wholesale financial institution, which means we can’t achieve our on-lending mandate without the commercial banks.
“Another part of our mandate is capacity building and some of you are participating in this technical aspect as well. We count on you to continue supporting us to alleviate the problems of SMEs who are the bedrocks of the Nigerian economy,” he said.
Access Bank and First City Monument Bank were both bestowed with a Platinum Service Ambassador award for showing support and providing innovative solutions for SMEs affected by Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, FCMB also got a recognition award for recording the most impact in terms of total end-borrowers financed.
It was double honour for LAPO Microfinance Bank, which was awarded as the Bank with Highest Loan Disbursement to Youth and Women Owned SMEs, while Fidelity Bank bagged the award of having Highest Loan Disbursement to DBN Focused Locations. Wema Bank Plc. received a Special Recognition Award as the first commercial Bank to draw from the DBN financing scheme and for being committed to driving growth in the MSME ecosystem.
The Chief Operating Officer, Bonaventure Okhaimo said as the first and only wholesale development financial institution in the country, DBN is passionate about MSMEs.
“Our aim is to see that MSMEs get the value they deserve. To alleviate their challenges, we have discussed N433b to SMEs. Over 140,000 MSMEs have been impacted.
We however have over 41 million MSMEs in Nigeria which means that we’ve not even scratched the surface in terms of funding them. But with the help of our PFIs, we were able to record 214% Year on Year disbursement growth despite the economic and social barriers enforced by Covid-19. This ceremony is to thank you for your support.”
Receiving the award, MD/CEO, Yemisi Edun said “This award is a recognition of our contribution to SMEs growth. We saw that the vision of DBN aligns with our objectives. And from them, we saw DBN as a partner we need to grow the economy. We will continue to do our best to ensure we meet the objectives of both institutions.”
On her part, Mrs. Chizoma Okoli, HCIB while receiving the award on behalf of Access Bank Nigeria said, “Access Bank will continue to partner with DBN. The relationship with DBN helps achieve our goals. We know that our contribution to the economy is slowly yielding results. But with time, the world would see the fruit of our investment in SMEs in Nigeria.”
Individual Service Ambassador Awards were also dolled out to staff of PFIs for their outstanding contributions. The trio of Toyin Ajibulu, Oluremi Agboola and Augustine Ibelegbu of FCMB, were rewarded with a training and certification sponsorship fund of N5.5m by DBN.
In the same vein, Access Bank staff; Lauretta Duru and Omotolani Ketiku also received N5.5m training and certification fund from DBN.
Development Bank of Nigeria is wholesale development finance institution, established by the federal government in collaboration with global development partners to address the financing challenges facing MSMEs; a sector of the economy dominated by women