ECOBANK Nigeria emerged victorious at this year's Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) Annual Service Ambassador prizes ceremony, which took place in Lagos recently, with three prestigious prizes, demonstrating the bank's support for MSME's (micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises).
Platinum Service Ambassador, Bank with the Highest Impact on Women Issues, and Bank with the Highest Impact on MSMEs Accessing Credit for the First Time are among the key accolades that the bank won.
The DBN Ambassadors Program's objectives were to enhance capacity, boost on-lending to MSMEs, foster a greater feeling of ownership among partnering financial institutions, and ultimately broaden financial inclusion in Nigeria. In collaboration with DBN, Ecobank is a participating financial institution that offers MSMEs lending facilities, credit guarantees, and technical assistance.
Carol Oyedeji, deputy managing director of Ecobank Nigeria, accepted the awards at the event and stated that they were evidence of the bank's dedication to helping small businesses obtain loans conveniently at lower interest rates in order to support the growth of the MSME subsector as a whole. The bank also supports and empowers women-owned businesses. In these prize categories, Ecobank had the highest volume and value of transactions.
She reaffirmed that Ecobank is still a bank that supports women, offering a variety of creative products and programs like Ellevate and Ecobank Female Entrepreneurs Initiative, or EFEI, that are intended to uplift and assist female entrepreneurs in Africa.
Oyedeji noted that Ecobank recently signed a USD200 million risk-sharing agreement with African Guarantee Fund, AGF, a specialized pan-African guarantee provider, stressing that it is aimed at catalyzing economic growth and supporting entrepreneurial ventures – including women-owned SMEs on the continent. “Through this partnership, both organisations are taking bold steps to enhance green financing and gender financing. It would eliminate the rigorous and restrictive requirements for collateral, particularly hindering women-focused businesses’ access to credit.”
According to her, “We have both financial and social empowerment initiatives for female entrepreneurs because we recognise women as the bedrock of most families and entrepreneurship in the society. We aim to eliminate the rigorous and restrictive requirements for collateral, hindering access to credit.”
In his welcome address, Tony Okpanachi, managing director, DBN, saluted the awardees, stating that their collaboration and commitment is impacting positively on the sustainable growth of the MSME sub-sector of the economy.
According to him, “your unwavering commitment to forging a lasting impact on the MSMEs through our collaboration is a testament to your dedication to fueling sustainable growth. The true essence of the DBN Awards shines through a celebration of sustainable triumph, where today’s aspirations evolve into tomorrow’s achievements.”
He clarified that the DBN uses its alliance with Participating Financial Institutions, or PFI, to offer small firms projects aimed at growing capacity at comparatively lower costs.
The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and international development partners conceptualized the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) to tackle the primary funding obstacles that MSMEs (micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises) in Nigeria faced.
Through the provision of loans and partial credit guarantees to qualified financial intermediaries on a market-conforming and completely financially sustainable basis, DBN seeks to reduce the financing limitations experienced by MSMEs and small Corporates in Nigeria.
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