Owners of small business under the aegis of the Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria (ASBON) said they have not benefited from the N786 billion said to have been disbursed by the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across the country.
ASBON President, Dr Femi Egbesola, made this declaration in an exclusive chat with Vanguard in reaction to a report of disbursement of loans by DBN.
Managing Director of DBN, Mr. Tony Okpanachi, had disclosed that the bank has so far disbursed a total of N786 billion to 494,819 MSMEs across Nigeria, resulting in the creation of 1,200,000 jobs.
"Since we commenced operations, we have cumulatively disbursed N786 billion in loans to 494,819 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises across the country, thereby resulting in the creation of 1,200,000 jobs. We couldn't have achieved this feat without the support of our stakeholders."
"Recognizing the pivotal role of MSMEs in our economy, the government has also taken significant steps to address these challenges through various initiatives to create a more enabling environment for MSMEs," Okpanachi stated.
But in his reaction, Egbesola told Vanguard that no member of ASBON has accessed any loan from the development finance institution.
His words: "None of our members has accessed this fund as at date. I really would love to have our members as beneficiaries but none yet. I do look forward to such loans getting to our teeming members across the country, as beneficiaries soon.
"Very honestly, we have been advocating the need for a strong handshake between the supporters of MSMEs and the critical stakeholders, this time, the Business Membership Organisations (BMOs).
"One would have expected that DBN would work with the BMOs that house the majority of real and verifiable business owners in their intervention and support programs, who indeed could give credible testimonies and provide practical data of the trueness or otherwise of many such claims in the MSMEs ecosystem.
"It is important that such claims are validated by the players in the MSMEs space rather than just reading about it in the papers or the media space."
