President Goodluck Jonathan has launched the Development Bank of Nigeria designed to provide loans to support Medium and Small Scale Enterprises in the country.
The Bank is expected to disburse over 200,000 new loans to micro, small and medium enterprises that would create over one million jobs in the first five years of its operation.
The President used the occasion to present “Jonathan’s next four years-my vision for Nigeria that works for all”.
President Jonathan also called on beneficiaries of the YouWin programme to key into the development band to access more funding to expand their businesses.
He described the launch as a defining moment in his efforts to cater for the needs of Nigerians in the area of job creation and funding to run such businesses.
President Jonathan said that he is happy that the bank would revolutionise the small business sector in the country.
The Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala said “this signals the end of high cost of finance which has been a major deterrent to the growth of Small and Medium Scale Enterprise”.
While her counterpart in the Trade and Investment Ministry, Mr Olusegun Aganga, described the launch as a realization of the President’s dream for the Nigerian people to see a positive change from the administration.