The African Development Bank Group has approved a $200 million financing facility for the Bank of Industry to deepen access to long-term capital for small and medium enterprises operating in infrastructure, transportation, agro-processing, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and green industrialization, sectors the bank described as critical to Nigeria’s economic diversification agenda.
The approval, announced on the AfDB website, was expected to channel patient capital into businesses in sectors that conventional lenders typically underserved, with at least 30 percent of the financing dedicated specifically to Nigerian SMEs to help bridge longstanding funding gaps.
BOI Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Olasupo Olusi described the approval as a strong vote of confidence in the institution’s development financing framework, noting that the latest intervention followed successful repayment of an earlier $100 million AfDB credit facility in 2025 and would strengthen BOI’s capacity to support Nigerian enterprises across priority sectors.
AfDB Nigeria Director General Abdul Kamara said the facility was designed to channel resources into productive areas capable of accelerating economic transformation, providing entrepreneurs and businesses with the long-term financing structures the local market currently could not offer at sufficient scale.
The facility also included a $650,000 technical assistance grant from the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance to improve SME capacity, governance standards, and environmental and social compliance, as well as a separate technical assistance component under the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa initiative to enhance market access and financing for women-owned businesses. Climate-smart investments and low-carbon industrial projects were also highlighted as priority deployment areas.
