BOI supports 1.68m jobs as lending rises 26% to ₦644.9 billion

The Bank of Industry (BOI) said it disbursed N644.9 billion to 12,501 businesses in 2025, a 26 per cent increase from N510.9 billion in 2024.

The intervention supported 1.68 million jobs under its 2025–2027 strategy to drive industrial development in Nigeria.

BOI’s Managing Director and CEO, Olasupo Olusi, disclosed this on Thursday at a meeting in Lagos.

Mr Olusi explained that after he assumed office, the bank embarked on a three-year strategy to spearhead Nigeria’s sustainable and inclusive industrial development from 2025 to 2027.

The BOI boss explained that the bank aimed to achieve its ambition through tailored offerings to underserved and high-impact business segments.

“Our 2X ambition meant to double our loan book, disbursements and impact instruments along these areas within three years,” Mr Olusi said.

The bank’s strategy includes six thematic areas to be pursued over the three years. The first theme includes MSME finance, with a commitment to allocate 35 per cent of the bank’s funding to MSMEs.

The bank also aims to focus on infrastructure by dedicating a quarter of all its credit to financing infrastructure, power, transport and logistics to lower the cost of doing business.

It also aims to support underserved and youth-owned businesses. BOI said it would direct at least 15 per cent of its financing to women-owned businesses while targeting 20 per cent of its SME disbursements to youth-owned or youth-run businesses.

BOI also finances clean energy, climate-resilient businesses and the circular economy, with 10 per cent of its portfolio disbursements dedicated to the sector.

Moreover, to take advantage of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, BOI also dedicated 15 per cent of its disbursements to the digital economy sector.

“We are delivering the strategy in three phases. 2025 was our foundation year, when we put in place the governance, frameworks, products and digital tools the strategy needs. 2026 is the year of execution at scale, and 2027 is the year we consolidate our results and meet our targets,” Mr Olusi said.

Strategy’s midpoint

The lender said its strategy was working, as it was set to consolidate its targets by 2027.

In 2025, BOI said it disbursed N644.9 billion, the highest amount the bank has ever disbursed, a 26 per cent increase on the N510.9 billion disbursed in 2024.

The lender said the financing reached 12,501 businesses and created or supported 1.68 million jobs.

BOI said it disbursed N120.9 billion to women-owned businesses alone, while MSMEs received 41 per cent of its 2025 funding, above its 35 per cent target.

Also, women-owned and youth-owned businesses received 20 per cent each, against the bank’s minimum targets of 15 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively.

In infrastructure, the bank said it deployed over N108 billion, including financing 100 mini-grids to power businesses and households, as well as broadband internet connectivity for over 700 communities.

“We also achieved our disbursement targets for climate and digital financing. For 2026, we are set to exceed our 2025 impact,” Mr Olusi said at the meeting with business editors.

To deliver its strategy and ensure inclusion across the Nigerian economy, the bank said it would prioritise five grouped sectors to achieve its targets.

The prioritised sectors include agro-manufacturing, other manufacturing, infrastructure, extractive industries and services.

Capital for Nigeria’s industrial needs

To provide the long-term capital Nigeria’s industries need to finance operations, BOI said it secured more than €2.2 billion and ₦250 billion in new funding for Nigerian industry over three years.

“Investors have placed this money with us because they trust our governance, our pipeline and our results,” Mr Olusi said.

The funding transactions include a €1.879 billion syndicated facility in 2024, named Syndicated Loan Deal of the Year; €210 million from international development partners in 2025; and a N250 billion development bond in 2026, which was oversubscribed.

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The funding also includes €85 million from the European Investment Bank for agriculture in 2026 and €50 million for healthcare manufacturing in 2026.

The BOI boss added that the federal government had also entrusted the bank with its N200 billion intervention, comprising a N50 billion Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme, a N75 billion MSME Intervention Fund and a N75 billion Manufacturing Sector Fund.

“We have delivered more than 95 per cent of it, reaching 957,400 grant beneficiaries, 9,000 MSMEs and 104 large manufacturers. Our reach extends well beyond the cities.

“Through our RAPID programme, we disbursed N6.5 billion to 880 rural enterprises across all 36 states and the FCT, supporting more than 8,000 jobs.

“We financed 100 mini-grids that connected 11,777 households and businesses to electricity, many of them for the first time. We also disbursed about N213 billion to agro-allied businesses and linked 47,508 smallholder farmers to processors,” Mr Olusi explained.

BOI said it was working with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment on the National Industrial Finance Compact to bring more long-term capital into industry.

It said it would deploy its new European Investment Bank facilities into agriculture and local healthcare manufacturing so that Nigeria could produce more of the food and medicines it consumes.

It also promised to grow its ICT and digital economy portfolio using the iDICE programme.