Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank), has partnered the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) to disburse N25 billion funding to entrepreneurs in Nigeria’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector.
While commenting on the funding, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of GTBank, Mr Segun Agbaje, said empowering SMEs is key towards accelerating Nigeria’s economic growth and alleviating extreme poverty.
According to Agbaje, the lender’s partnership with DBN reflects its commitment to building a strong MSME sector buoyed by easy access to all of its financing needs.
“As a Bank that is passionate about Promoting Enterprise, we will continue to provide innovative solutions and create global platforms that expand opportunities for small businesses to build capacity, grow revenue and connect with consumers and business experts from around the world.”
Adequate funding for MSMEs is sacrosanct: The role of SMEs in enhancing economic growth and development has, over time, been widely acknowledged globally. Economic wealth all over the world is created through enterprises and the expansion of their output.
SMEs contribute to the economy by creating value through the production of goods and services, thus enhancing the gross domestic product. They also generate employment by creating much-needed jobs in the economy, as well as expanding the export sector largely through linkages with large firms that produce for the foreign sector.
Lack of adequate funding has been one of the major challenges facing Nigerian SMEs. For a long time, entrepreneurs have lamented the lack of adequate provision of credit facilities. It is, therefore, a good thing that something is finally being done about the situation.
About the DBN: The DBN was set up by the Federal Government as a wholesale development finance institution (DFI) to address the major financing challenges facing MSMEs in the country. On the other hand, GTBank is a lender that offers a wide range of low-interest loan products designed exclusively for MSMEs.
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