Established in September 2014 by the Federal Government of Nigeria, in
partnership with several International Finance Institutions namely the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), KfW Development Bank (Germany), Agence Française de Développement (AfD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Development Bank of Nigeria addresses the major financing challenges facing Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria.
Development Bank of Nigeria’s major objective has been to alleviate financing constraints faced by MSMEs and small Corporates in Nigeria through the provision of financing and partial credit guarantees to eligible financial intermediaries on a market-conforming and fully financially sustainable basis.
The institution faces squarely the challenges of development financing in Nigerian economy with limited access to capital. The bank is the vehicle to address financing challenges that hinder the operations of Micro, Small and Medium scale Enterprises [MSMEs] in the country.
Though, DBN does not lend directly to the beneficiaries, but operates through commercial banks, microfinance banks and development finance institutions on on-lending and risk-sharing basis. The Bank has provided long-term loans to the operators in the sector for financing capacity building development projects.
This and many more were the mandates handed over to Mr. Tony Okpanachi, the current Managing Director/CEO of Development Bank of Nigeria Plc (DBN) in January 2017. A seasoned banker, with over 30 years’ experience, Tony is quite prepared for the task, being a man cut out to deliver a good job. Tony Okpanachi has toured major financial institutions, an experience that prepared him for the tasking role at DBN.
Anthony’s banking experience spans through 26 years. For over 22 years, he has been at the senior management levels in different sectors of the banking industry. Mr. Tony has served as Chief Executive Officer of Ecobank Kenya and Regional Head for East Africa, comprising Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi within the Ecobank Group.
Okpanachi is committed to making the desired impact in the economy by empowering MSMEs to contribute to poverty reduction, employment generation and wealth creation. His major business was to ensure they had unlimited access to finances that would boost their businesses. With this, Tony has positioned MSMEs to aspire to the global benchmarks of contributing two-thirds of total employment numbers in developing countries and over one-half of gross domestic product in developed economies.
He has transformed the landscape of MSMEs funding in the country through innovative lending and technical support of beneficiaries, having built capacities in both the beneficiaries and the on-lending institutions,
Through Okpanachi’s ingenuity and the contribution of his team, the bank has made a great impact in the lives of MSMEs. Despite his achievements, reports have it that he is targeting to achieve a development loan disbursement in the region of N100 billion by the end of 2019. He expects that the volume could be looking up to N400 billion in five years of the bank’s operations by 2023.
Born in the year 1966, Tony Adejo Okpanachi is a graduate of Manchester University, where he bagged an MBA in Business Administration, Tony as he is fondly called by friends is also a proud Alumnus of the University of Lagos, where he bagged his first Masters of Science Degree in Economics. He also holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
He has attended several Executive Management Development Programmes on Leadership, Corporate Governance, Credit and Risk-Management in leading institutions. His quest for education led him to Leadership for the 21st Century: Chaos, Conflict and Courage course at Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education in 2016. The Executive Education at Harvard Kennedy School is an invaluable educational opportunity for leaders from every sector to optimize their effectiveness and make a difference.
This difference, Tony has made at every strata of the Banking sector he found himself. At Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Tony proved himself to be a thorough bred professional, whose versatility and a go-getter spirit is second to none.
Mr. Tony Okpanachi has also proven to be a Business Transformation specialist. His Midas touch at DBN, since 2017 has helped in diagnosing accurately issues militating against the performance of a systemically important bank in Nigeria and is driving the transformation process. Okpanachi’s expertise in risk management came to play at DBN. Through his careful selection, he has kept the bank and borrowers out of trouble. In this way, the bank has continued to record minimal credit losses.
Within the first full year of operation at the end of 2018, DBN had disbursed N31 billion to small business enterprises in the country. In two years of the bank’s operations, it has disbursed N70 billion to over 50,000 MSMEs across the country.
A focused professional, with a strong passion for excellence, Mr. Tony Okpanachi leads by example at DBN, where he demonstrates a knack for innovative approach to exceed customers’ expectations.
Before his appointment as Managing Director/CEO of DBN, he was the Deputy Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria Limited since April 2013. Prior to that, he was the Managing Director, Ecobank Kenya and Cluster Managing Director for East Africa (comprising Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and Ethiopia). He was also at various times Managing Director of Ecobank Malawi and Regional Coordinator for Lagos and South West of Ecobank Nigeria.
Earlier in his professional career, he managed various portfolios including Treasury Management, Retail Business Development, Corporate Finance, Corporate Services, Branch Management and Relationship Management.
He has registered good results and left behind footprints of impacts on society.
DBN runs an entrepreneurship training programme, which equips entrepreneurs with necessary skills and competencies in business development and management. These include development of viable business proposals, efficient funds utilization and exploitation of opportunities across markets.
Through this programme the Bank has addressed entrepreneurship and business management skill gaps of MSMEs in Nigeria.
