The Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) has released its annual results for the 2015 / 16 period.

The Bank amended its reporting period from the end of the calendar year to the end of March 2016 to coincide with the financial year of its shareholder, the government. The annual report for 2015 / 16 covers a 15-month period. Standard 12-month reporting will be resumed in 2017 reporting.

During the period DBN loans and advances grew to N$3.8 billion as at 31 March 2016, up from N$2.3 billion in 2014. The growth is primarily attributable to the increased scope and larger amounts approved per project.

Over the same period, net interest income grew from N$215.56 million in 2014 to N$339.78 million. Net income grew from N$147.25 million to N$208.76 million. The Bank reapplies the majority of its net income to lending in the interests of development.

For the period under review, the Bank maintained the quality of its loan and investment portfolio with bad debts of 4.1 percent, which is below the maximum budget percentage of 5.0 percent. This falls approximately 30 percent below the recommended level of bad debt of 6 percent advocated by the Association of African Development Finance Institutions (AADFI).

The Bank’s assets grew to N$4.59 billion as at 31 March 2016, up from N$2.92 billion at the end of 2014, an increase of 57.2 percent on the back of the high loan book growth.

During the period, the Bank in consultation with the shareholder, revised its lending and investment focus and ceased providing direct finance for small and medium enterprises to focus on the provision of finance for infrastructure and to enterprises with an annual turnover of above N$10 million, as well as business projects valued at more than N$10 million.

CEO Martin Inkumbi said that the shift in strategic focus was prompted primarily by the mandate of the SME Bank to provide finance to smaller enterprises. In addition, the shift is supported by a growing finance ecosystem of commercial lending activities and specialist private funds that finance SMEs. The benefit to the Bank, Inkumbi said, is that it can evolve into its new role as an impactful and effective financing agency for larger initiatives.

He added that the Bank has put in place a sound risk management system which envisages the requirements for preservation and sound management of its own pool of capital, as well as capital entrusted to it by the shareholder, private sector sources and external agencies.

In terms of organisational development, Inkumbi said the Bank is establishing an in-house treasury function to support its capital raising efforts and liquidity management. A post investment and loan monitoring function was created as part of DBN's credit risk management function to ensure appropriate utilisation of the Bank’s funds and to support ongoing risk management of enterprises and projects that the Bank has invested in.

Inkumbi concluded by noting that the Bank put in place an environmental and social management system, known as the ESMS, to mitigate harmful impacts that could emanate from the projects and business activities of enterprises it is financing. An environmental risk manager was appointed to oversee the function.