By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The bank set up by the Federal Government to support small-scale businesses with loans of varying lengths at lower interest rates than currently available as the country, the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), has received an operational licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The apex bank issued the licence to the DBN after meeting the minimum capital requirement of N100 billion ($326 million), the reconstitution of the bank’s board and a review of the organisation’s structure.
The new financial institution is under the Federal Ministry of Finance.
Speaking on the latest development, Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, disclosed that the Federal Government “expects that the influx of additional capital from the DBN will lower borrowing rates and the longer tenure of the loans, will provide the required flexibility in the management of cash flows.”
The new bank has $1.3 billion in seed money provided by the World Bank, African Development Bank and German state bank Kfw.
Adedapo Adesanya