By Abubakar Yunusa
The Bank of Industry disbursed a record N636bn to businesses across Nigeria in 2025, the highest annual financing volume in its history.
The development finance institution said in its 2025 impact report released on Wednesday that the funds were deployed to more than 7,000 businesses spanning manufacturing, agribusiness, micro, small and medium enterprises, infrastructure, power, ICT and the creative sector.
President Bola Tinubu hailed the milestone, describing it as proof that ongoing macroeconomic reforms are strengthening development finance and widening access to long-term capital.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President said the performance reflected reform-driven credibility and institutional discipline.
“The N636bn disbursed by the Bank of Industry in 2025 translates directly into productive capacity across Nigeria,” Tinubu said.
“At a time of global financing constraints, Nigeria expanded access to long-term capital for its businesses. That is a direct outcome of reform, credibility and institutional discipline.”
BOI said the record disbursement marked its transition “from strategy to scale” under its 2025–2027 transformation agenda focused on balance sheet strengthening, operational efficiency and alignment with national industrial priorities.
The bank noted that the feat was achieved despite global macroeconomic pressures that widened financing gaps and strained development finance institutions worldwide.
It added that demand for its facilities surged during the year due to relatively cheaper and longer-tenured financing options.
According to the report, N202bn went to agro-allied enterprises, N100bn to infrastructure, N79bn to manufacturing, N77bn to extractive industries and N55bn to services.
The disbursements were supported partly by a €2bn syndicated facility secured at the end of 2024, the Federal Government’s N200bn MSME loans and grants scheme, and an additional €210m mobilised in 2025 from international partners.
BOI also deployed N73bn in managed and matching funds on behalf of states and institutional partners.
The bank maintained asset quality, recording a non-performing loan ratio of less than 1.5 per cent.
Under the Federal Government’s N200bn intervention programme, BOI said it achieved over 95 per cent performance as the disbursing entity, while the Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme reached 957,400 beneficiaries in 2025.
A breakdown by business size showed that N51bn went to nano enterprises, N32bn to micro businesses, N178bn to SMEs and N375bn to large enterprises.
BOI said its interventions led to the creation and retention of 1.6 million jobs, supported over 7,000 new MSMEs and 570 start-ups.
Inclusive finance remained a priority, the bank said, highlighting its N10bn Guaranteed Loans for Women programme, which provides up to N50m in affordable financing per beneficiary.
Youth-owned enterprises received N12bn, while the Rural Area Programme on Investment for Development supported 880 rural enterprises with over N6.5bn across the 36 states and the FCT.
The bank said it upgraded a tomato processing facility from 3.1 metric tonnes to 10 metric tonnes per hour, linked 47,508 smallholder farmers to processors and deployed 100 mini-grids in partnership with development finance institutions, connecting 11,777 new customers to electricity.
It added that N100bn was channelled into critical infrastructure covering broadband, power, aviation and transportation, while BOI-financed projects contributed to an estimated annual reduction of over 20,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.
Through its Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises programme, the bank said it prepared 500 founders for investment, funded 100 tech ventures and trained 400 youths, targeting over 300,000 Nigerians.
Commenting on the performance, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Olasupo Olusi, said the achievement aligned with the Federal Government’s industrialisation drive.
“Achieving over N600bn in loan disbursements to our customers in 2025 is a significant milestone for the Bank of Industry, which aligns with the vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to drive industrialisation, economic diversification and inclusive growth across Nigeria,” Olusi said.
“Beyond this milestone, our performance this year demonstrates BOI’s continued commitment to supporting enterprises, creating jobs and strengthening the nation’s industrial base.”
BOI also said it became Nigeria’s first national implementing entity to the United Nations Adaptation Fund and the first development finance institution in the country to achieve privacy information management system certification.
The bank added that it received several recognitions in 2025, including Best Bank for Sustainable Finance in Nigeria, Best Company in Financial Inclusion and Best Company in Infrastructure Development at the SERAS awards.
