Fidelity Bank Plc has won the 2020 Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) service award for the highest disbursement to DBN-focused locations.

The bank’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, said this in a statement on Friday in Lagos.

Onyeali-Ikpe said the award was a testament of the bank’s determination to support Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs).

Onyeali-Ikpe said that the bank was delighted to receive the award.

She noted that the recognition would spur it to do more to support the SMEs sector to scale and run profitable ventures.

“This award serves as a proof of the remarkable work that we have done and are currently doing in helping small businesses access much need loans at competitive rates to help them scale their businesses.

“We are particularly delighted that a large number of our SME customers are taking advantage of our partnership with the DBN and is demonstration of our claim to be the preferred bank for small businesses.

“The critical role small businesses play in employment generation, wealth creation and social development cannot be over-emphasised.

“It is, therefore, important to position them for scalable and sustainable growth.

“Our vision at Fidelity Bank is to bridge the yawning gap for capacity building and help SMEs in Nigeria build the necessary capacity for entrepreneurial success.

“We are proud of the role that we play in helping SMEs thrive, especially through the facilitation on loans,” said Onyeali-Ikpe.

The DBN Managing Director, Mr. Tony Okpanachi, said that the DBN leverages its partnership with Participating Financial Institutions (PFI) to provide relatively cheaper loans as well as capacity building initiatives to small businesses.

Okpanachi said that the DBN Ambassadors programme, which kicked off in 2020, was designed to increase a sense of ownership among participating financial institutions, build capacity, increase on-lending to SMEs and deepen financial inclusion in Nigeria.