LivingTrust Mortgage Bank Plc has repaid a N950 million MSMEs grant to the Development Bank of Nigeria two months earlier than the planned date.
The PUNCH reported that DBN disbursed the N950 million MSMEs fund to the bank on March 1, 2021, for a 36-month term, with the facility set to expire on March 1, 2024. However, it was successfully paid off grant two months sooner, in January 2024.
In a statement, the bank’s Managing Director, Dr Adekunle Adewole, described the achievement as a testament to LivingTrust’s commitment to excellence and maintaining the trust of its financing partners.
“This is yet another example of our unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction and maintaining the trust of our funding partners. We have never missed a repayment to our partners, DBN, NMRC, FMBN, and others. At LivingTrust, we take excellence as a priority, making it easier for us to fulfil our purpose,” Adewole said.
According to the statement, LivingTrust was able to pull off this achievement thanks to its “credit origination system,” which enabled it to extend credit to first-time customers from Micro, Small, and Medium Scale Enterprises while maintaining a very low non-performing loan ratio.
On November 16, 2020, DBN selected LivingTrust Mortgage Bank as a partner bank for the growth of the MSME sector, placing it among the few banks considered by DBN to have the necessary financial strength and governance structure to manage the MSMEs money.
On March 1, 2021, DBN disbursed the first tranche of the fund to the bank for on-lending to prequalified MSMEs and small corporates.
However, due to its outstanding performance, DBN informed the bank in a letter dated April 27, 2022, jointly signed by the Chief Operations Officer, Bonaventure Okhaimo, and Managing Director, Tony Okpanachi, of its credit limit to N1.6bn
LivingTrust finished 2022 as the DBN’s ‘Financial Institution with the Highest Impact on Start-Ups’ and ‘Financial Institution with the Highest Impact on MSME Accessing Credit for the First Time’.
Also in December 2023, the bank received the award for the Participating Financial Institution with the Highest Impact on MSMEs Accessing Credit for the First Time at the DBN Service Ambassadors Awards for the second consecutive year.
The bank was named the country’s leader in assisting the growth of newly founded and rural-based Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises.
DBN stated that the bank’s performance in this area has provided a significant boost to the bank’s fundamental goal of reaching MSMEs who would otherwise be ineligible for loans due to a history of lack of credit.
