….supports 12,500 MSMEs, 1,615 startups, deploys N644bn in 2025
The Bank of Industry (BOI) has unveiled its inaugural Annual Development Impact Report, revealing that it deployed N644 billion in development finance in 2025 to support more than 12,500 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and 1,615 startups, while setting out plans to channel 35 percent of its 2026 financing to small-scale businesses.
The report, presented in Abuja on Thursday, provides the clearest picture yet of the development finance institution’s shift from a volume-driven lender to an impact-focused institution, with growing emphasis on measurable job creation, industrial expansion and inclusive enterprise growth.
Under its 2026 roadmap, BOI said it is repositioning itself to play a more strategic role in Nigeria’s industrialisation agenda by deliberately steering capital towards priority sectors and underserved enterprise segments.
At the top of that strategy is a commitment to channel more than one-third of total financing this year to small businesses, alongside broader allocation targets designed to deepen access to credit and strengthen value chains.
The bank said the new framework is anchored on six key financing levers that will guide its interventions in 2026. These include targeted capital allocation across enterprise classes and sectors, with 35 percent of funding directed to MSMEs, while 80 percent of large enterprise financing will go to priority sectors identified as critical to industrial growth.
It also plans to allocate 30 percent of large enterprise financing to infrastructure projects, 15 percent to women-owned businesses, and 20 percent of MSME financing to youth-owned enterprises. In addition, 10 percent of total funding will be directed to green projects, while 15 percent will go to digital and ICT-related investments as the bank increases its exposure to technology-driven growth sectors.
BOI said the strategy reflects a deliberate effort to align its financing model with Nigeria’s long-term development priorities, including industrialisation, job creation, climate transition and digital transformation. The targets are contained in the bank’s inaugural 2025 Annual Development Impact Report.
The report showed that beyond the 2026 forward-looking strategy, BOI significantly expanded its development footprint in 2025, deploying N644 billion across key sectors of the economy and strengthening support for enterprises at different stages of growth.
It said more than 12,500 MSMEs and 1,615 startups benefited from its interventions during the year, spanning agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure, healthcare, energy, mining, creative industries and digital services.
The financing covered both early-stage enterprises and large-scale industrial and infrastructure projects aimed at strengthening productivity and economic resilience.
According to the report, the bank’s interventions contributed to the creation of about 1.68 million direct, indirect and induced jobs, highlighting its increasing role in supporting employment generation at a time of heightened economic pressure and structural adjustment in the economy.
Olasupo Olusi, BOI managing director and Chief Executive Officer, said the institution is deliberately shifting away from measuring success solely by the volume of financing disbursed to focusing on the real economic outcomes generated by its interventions.
He said development finance must ultimately be judged by its impact on enterprises, livelihoods and national productivity, not just loan disbursement figures.
“The Annual Development Impact Report is BOI’s institutional expression of our commitment to impact,” Olusi said. “It reflects our determination to measure development outcomes with the same discipline and rigour that we apply to financial performance.”
He said the bank supported businesses across multiple sectors of the economy, strengthened value chains and expanded access to finance while investing in infrastructure that enhances national competitiveness.
“Most importantly, our interventions translated into tangible impact by supporting millions of jobs, reducing carbon emissions, strengthening digital and other infrastructure, and empowering women and young entrepreneurs,” he said.
Olusi added that BOI’s financing activities in 2025 spanned 14 industrial sectors, reflecting a deliberate diversification strategy aligned with Nigeria’s industrialisation objectives.
He also noted that more than 20 percent of disbursements were directed towards gender and youth-focused enterprises.
Beyond MSME financing, he said BOI also played a significant role in strategic national infrastructure projects during the year, including the deployment of more than N35 billion to support broadband infrastructure rollout by major telecommunications operators.
He said the intervention was aimed at expanding digital inclusion and strengthening Nigeria’s digital economy backbone.
The report also highlighted BOI’s role in aligning operations with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. Some of the investments were directed at projects that delivered measurable outcomes across industrial value chains.
It said the bank financed projects that generated 38 patents across pharmaceuticals, infrastructure and engineering, while also facilitating 739.6 value chain linkages through 125 initiatives.
It further upgraded 13 processing facilities and invested N4.6 billion to modernise six manufacturing plants.
Other interventions included linking 47,508 smallholder farmers to structured value chains, supporting over 90 enterprises in transitioning to full local raw material sourcing, and enabling renewable energy deployment in more than 55 firms.
BOI also financed mini-grid projects across 100 rural communities, connecting 11,777 new customers to electricity, while supporting cleaner production practices, including waste recycling in selected industrial facilities.
The bank served as the lead implementing agency for the federal government’s N200 billion MSME Industrialisation Fund, achieving a disbursement rate of over 95 percent.
It also launched the Rural Area Programme on Investment for Development (RAPID), which disbursed N6.01 billion between 2024 and 2025 to support 822 enterprises, with the North-East recording the highest level of participation.
Major infrastructure-linked interventions included N35 billion for national broadband rollout and N30 billion for mini-grid power projects in Lagos, Imo and Rivers states.
The impact report was independently validated by the Policy Innovation Centre (PIC) and KPMG, which both affirmed the credibility and robustness of the data and methodology used in assessing BOI’s development impact.
Osasuyi Dirisu, executive director of PIC and Senior Fellow of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), said the findings were evidence-based and conservatively presented following rigorous review processes.