Bank of Industry raises $5 billion, plans N120 billion  support for MSMEs 

The Managing Director of the Bank of Industry (BoI), Mr. Olasupo Olusi, has disclosed that the bank has raised over $5 billion from international capital markets since 2017.

Olusi made this known on Thursday at the BoI’s 65th-anniversary news conference in Lagos.

These funds were secured through Eurobonds, loan syndications, and green finance instruments.

He highlighted the bank’s evolution from its establishment as the Investment Company of Nigeria (ICON) in 1959 to its transformation into the Bank of Industry in 2001.

He noted that in November 2023, the bank concluded a global loan syndication, raising not less than two billion euros. This marked the largest fundraising in BoI’s history and the largest syndication in the history of African Development Finance Institutions (DFIs).

“BoI has partnerships with state governments, and foundations to establish the ‘Matching Fund’ scheme. We also have partnerships with trade associations, such as the National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI), and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), to deepen real sector financing.  

“BoI recently signed a partnership agreement with SMEDAN to provide Nano and Micro Enterprises in Nigeria with a one billion dollar fund at a single-digit interest rate,” Olusi said.

Olusi added that the Federal Government recently appointed BoI as the executing agency for the $200 billion FGN MSME Intervention Fund. This includes a N50 billion Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme (PCGS), a N75 billion Manufacturing Sector Fund, and a N75 billion MSME Intervention Sector Fund.

“Our strategic partnerships also extend to numerous organisations, such as African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Finance Corporation (AFC), Investment Climate Reform (ICR) initiative, and the African Guarantee Fund (AGF). Other are the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the United States Export Import Bank (USEXIM), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), amongst others,” he said.

BoI Disburses Over N107 Billion to MSMEs 

On his part, Mr. Shekarau Omar, BoI’s Executive Director for MSMEs, revealed that the bank plans to disburse N120 billion to two million micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by the end of the year. He explained that despite an initial target of N103 billion for 1.5 million MSMEs in 2024, the bank had already exceeded its goal.

According to Omar, as of October, the bank had disbursed N107 billion to a larger number of MSMEs than originally planned.

He highlighted the importance of the MSME sector, saying, “The potential of Nigeria’s MSME sector is estimated to be between 39 and 40 million businesses.” 

What you should know 

Nairametrics recently reported that the Bank of Industry (BOI) confirmed the disbursement of over N37.8 billion through the Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme, also known as the Trade Grant Scheme.

• The Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme is a palliative initiative designed for nano businesses, with a target of reaching 1 million beneficiaries, each receiving N50,000.
• The program is structured to allocate 70% of the grants to women and youths, 10% to individuals with disabilities, 5% to senior citizens, and the remaining 15% to other groups.

To date, more than 700,000 people have benefited from the scheme, while over 200,000 applicants are still awaiting their grants.