In a report titled ‘Tackling access to finance for micro, small and medium enterprises,’ the World Bank revealed that over a span of six years, at least 321,867 small businesses in Nigeria received a substantial sum of $1.4 billion in funding.
The Washington-based development bank highlighted that the funds were disbursed by the Development Bank of Nigeria, specifically catering to small enterprises. Among the beneficiaries, 66 percent were women-owned businesses, and 12 percent were first-time borrowers.
However, despite this financial support, the World Bank acknowledged the persistent challenge of accessing finance for small businesses in Nigeria, recognizing their pivotal role as the backbone of the economy.
“The DBN has earned a reputation for being even-handed, highly responsive, and innovative among its 28 Partner financial institutions. Key project achievements include wholesale funding to PFIs amounting to the naira equivalent of $1.4bn, on-lending to 321,867 MSMEs, of which 66 per cent are women-owned, and 12 per cent are first-time borrowers”.
