The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) disbursed N482bn loans to 208,000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in 2021, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has said.
She said 27 percent of the loans went to youth-owned enterprises; while 66 per cent of the firms were owned by women.
She spoke in Abuja on Thursday at the DBN’s 3rd Annual Lecture Series, with the theme: ‘Thriving in the Face of Domestic and Global Disruptions’.
Nigeria Air: More questions, doubts as FG unveils Ethiopian Airlines as core investor
Group to subsidize tuition for northern pupils
She listed some of the provisions of the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) to support MSMEs as including a N250bn grant containing N50bn de-risking facility component, a payroll support scheme providing up to N50,000 in monthly salaries for up to 10 staff of qualifying businesses for a duration of three months.
The minister said 1.3 million jobs had been retained through the MSME and payroll support.
DBN Managing Director, Tony Okpanachi, said: “In today´s increasingly turbulent world, MSMEs find themselves frequently affected by unpredictable external factors such as natural disasters, climate change issues, disease outbreaks, technological and cyber changes, trade disputes, policies, etc, which have had an immense impact on local businesses.
“It is, therefore, imperative for us as a Bank to champion the conversation on how MSMEs can prosper despite the odds, by exposing ways through which MSMEs can adapt in these times.”
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.