Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, is positioning the Development Bank of Nigeria, DBN, to revitalize the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, SMEs, considered the engine of growth of the economy. She disclosed at a recent Board/Management/Development partners’ retreat of the DBN in Abuja, that the operating licence of DBN would soon be issued and that through the activities of institution, some of the problems affecting the growth of the SME sector would be resolved. DBN is expected to lend to microfinance banks, which will in turn develop specific products for specific markets at a lower interest rates than currently available to SMEs. She said the Finance Ministry is in discussion with the CBN on the need to use the development bank as a vehicle for any of its subsequent SMEs intervention.
Aware of the role of SMEs in national development, she said the federal government has resolved to position the DBN as a catalyst for the development of the SMEs, being that the wide range of SMEs is a reflection of the diversity of the economy.
Hence the retreat was organised for DBN’s development partners and incoming management team and Board of Directors to prepare them for commencement of their operation as soon as the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, gives the go ahead.
She decried the present situation where SMEs account for 45 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product, GDP, but just 10 per cent of bank credit. She noted that financing of Micro and SMEs lagged significantly behind other countries, including Brazil (63 per cent), Ghana (36 per cent), China (30 per cent), Kenya (24 per cent), and South Africa (21 per cent).