FG reveals how to access loan from Development Bank of Nigeria

The Nigerian government has revealed the criteria for obtaining a loan from the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), which they say only companies with less than 250 employees are eligible for.

This was disclosed by DBN’s managing director, Mr. Tony Okpanachi, in a meeting with the Senate ad hoc committee investigating uneven disbursement of its loans. They also noted that their lending criteria are similar to those set by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Okpanachi told the Senate committee that only small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) with less than 250 employees and revenue not above N1.1 billion are qualified to access its loans.

He disclosed that southern Nigerian SME’s have received the most funding due to possessing the most requirements.

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“Our lending has criteria and they are the same as those set by the Central Bank of Nigeria. We do a risk assessment of the Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) before they begin to lend to businesses. We don’t want to give out money and the money fritters away. So we track the end users of the loans yearly,” he said.

He also said the DBN observed that there were issues with interest-based banking and loans in the north, citing that it has engaged two non-interest banks in Nigeria to cater to that region

The DBN boss said the process is continuous to get more businesses on board and urged participating financial institutions to build the capacity of small-scale businesses and train them on how to structure their businesses to be able to access the loans.

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Who qualifies for the DBN loan?

All MSMEs (start up or existing) involved in productive enterprises are eligible for the loan. However, they must be customers of eligible financial institutions.
DBN is poised to provide funding and risk-sharing guarantees through Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs), who will then on-lend to end beneficiaries.
DBN loans can be accessed through PFIs, which include Commercial Banks, Microfinance Banks, Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and other Financial Institutions.
DBN loan repayment tenure is flexible (up to 10 years with a moratorium period of up to 18 months) and the interest rates are on a market-conforming and fully financially sustainable basis.

How to get a DBN Loan

1. Visit your bank: Commercial Bank, Microfinance Bank, Development Finance Institution (DFI) and other Financial Institutions and indicate you want to apply for a DBN Loan.

2. The Bank appraises the business and loan purpose, and if its assessment is favourable, the Bank applies to DBN for funding.

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3. If DBN approves the loan, DBN will disburse to the Bank for on-lending to end borrowers.

You can access the DBN loan through any of these PFIs by contacting any of the banks listed below: