Bank of Industry Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Olasupo Olusi, and Bank of Industry Limited have secured strong institutional demand for the bank’s maiden N250 billion fixed-rate bond, with the Series 1 offer oversubscribed within five working days in Nigeria’s domestic capital market.
The transaction represents a significant step in the development finance institution’s effort to broaden its funding base and channel longer-term capital towards Nigerian businesses.
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The bond is being issued through BoI Financing SPV Plc under the bank’s $1 billion Multi-Currency Instruments Programme.
According to BoI, the offer attracted pension fund administrators, banks, development finance institutions, corporates and other institutional investors, indicating substantial appetite for the bank’s debt instrument.
The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) also provided anchor support for the transaction.
BoI said the participation of the two institutions strengthened the depth of the offer and reflected confidence in the bank’s credit quality and its growing role in Nigeria’s domestic capital market.
Olusi described the response as a vote of confidence in both the institution and the wider market’s ability to mobilise long-term finance for productive investment.
“The strength of the investor response is a vote of confidence not only in BoI, but also in the capacity of Nigeria’s domestic capital market to mobilise long-term capital for productive investment,” Olusi said.
The bank said final subscription and allotment figures would not yet be released because the allotment remains subject to approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission, with the transaction still progressing towards completion.
The successful offer comes as Nigerian businesses continue to face the challenge of accessing affordable, long-tenured finance, particularly in sectors requiring substantial capital investment.
For manufacturers, the cost and availability of credit remain especially important because investments in machinery, production facilities and supply chains generally require longer repayment periods than conventional short-term commercial lending can provide.
BoI said proceeds from the bond would strengthen its ability to provide long-term financing to eligible enterprises in priority sectors.
The planned financing is expected to support productive capacity, local value addition, employment creation and economic diversification.
The development is also consistent with BoI’s broader role as Nigeria’s principal development finance institution for industrial and enterprise growth.
The bank reported a record N636 billion in financing to more than 7,000 businesses in 2025, its largest annual disbursement in its history.
The financing covered agro-allied enterprises, infrastructure, manufacturing, extractive industries, services and other productive sectors.
BoI said the 2025 financing helped create or retain about 1.6 million jobs and supported more than 7,000 new MSMEs and 570 start-ups, providing context for the scale of lending that the new capital-market strategy could help sustain.
The bank has also been expanding its access to international funding.
In November 2024, Olusi said BoI had completed a nearly €2 billion global loan syndication, which he described as the largest fundraising in the bank’s history and the largest syndication involving an African development finance institution at the time.
He said the bank had raised more than $5 billion through international capital markets, including Eurobonds, loan syndications and green finance instruments since 2017.
The latest domestic bond therefore represents an important extension of an established funding strategy rather than an isolated fundraising exercise.
It also reflects the bank’s attempt to deepen its relationship with Nigerian institutional investors and reduce reliance on external funding channels.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration has placed development finance institutions at the centre of its efforts to expand credit to productive sectors.
In February, the Presidency highlighted BoI’s record N636 billion disbursement in 2025, saying the financing demonstrated the role of development finance institutions in unlocking capital for businesses under the government’s economic reform programme.
The administration has also backed several financing initiatives involving BoI, including a N50 billion catalytic seed fund intended to support agro-industrial investment as part of the government’s wider agricultural financing programme.
Against that background, Olusi credited Tinubu’s executive approval of investor incentives with helping to generate demand for the new bond.
According to the BoI chief executive, the President also approved N100 billion for the bank, which is intended to help blend the bond’s pricing and cushion the impact of high interest rates on manufacturers and other BoI customers.
“As a development finance institution, we could not have received the strong investor demand for the bond in five working days without the support of President Tinubu who gave his executive approval for various incentives to encourage investors,” Olusi said.
The claim places government policy support alongside investor confidence as key factors behind the transaction’s early performance.
However, the strength of demand should not be confused with the final amount raised.
BoI has made clear that final subscription and allotment figures remain subject to regulatory approval.
The distinction is important in assessing the transaction’s eventual impact and the precise level of additional capital that will become available to the bank.
For the domestic capital market, meanwhile, the offer provides an encouraging signal at a time when institutional investors are increasingly important sources of long-term funding.
Pension funds, banks, insurers, corporates and other institutional investors control substantial pools of capital that can potentially be directed towards productive assets when suitable instruments are available.
BoI’s strategy is therefore broader than simply raising N250 billion.
The bank is seeking to build a repeat presence in the domestic debt market and establish another dependable channel through which institutional savings can be converted into development finance.
That could prove particularly valuable for businesses that need patient capital to establish new plants, modernise existing facilities, expand production or develop local supply chains.
The bank’s mandate also extends beyond lending volumes.
Its 2025 impact report recorded interventions across manufacturing, agribusiness, infrastructure, power, ICT and the creative sector, alongside programmes targeting women, young entrepreneurs and rural businesses.
The real test of the latest transaction will therefore come after the fundraising, when the capital reaches enterprises and begins to translate into production, investment and jobs.
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For now, the five-day oversubscription gives BoI a powerful vote of confidence from institutional investors and offers another indication that Nigeria’s domestic capital market can play a larger role in financing long-term economic development.
Olawale Olaleye is a journalist, editor, and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering public affairs, governance, and national issues.
