The Bank of Industry (BoI) created and supported an estimated 1.68 million jobs in 2025 after disbursing a record ₦644.9 billion to businesses, its highest disbursement in history.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Dr Olasupo Olusi, disclosed this on Thursday in Lagos at a media roundtable with business editors, while presenting the bank’s 2025 Annual Development Impact Report.
Olusi said the 2025 disbursement represented a 26 per cent increase over the ₦510.9 billion disbursed in 2024, noting that “In 2025, we disbursed ₦644.9bn, the highest amount ever by the Bank.”
According to him, the funds reached 12,501 enterprises across the country. Large businesses received 59 per cent, small and medium-sized enterprises received 29 per cent, while nano and micro businesses accounted for seven and five per cent, respectively.
A breakdown of the impact shows that job creation was driven by the bank’s six-pillar 2025–2027 Corporate Strategy, which focuses on MSME finance, infrastructure, women and gender, youth and skills, climate and sustainability, and the digital economy.
He disclosed that MSMEs exceeded their target, receiving 41 per cent of total funding against a 35 per cent target. Women-owned enterprises received ₦120.9 billion, representing 18.7 per cent of total funding, while youth-led businesses received 20 per cent of the bank’s MSME financing.
The managing director stated that “We also achieved our disbursement targets for Climate and Digital financing.”
On its sector focus, Olusi explained that the bank had structured its lending around 15 priority sectors, with information and communications technology (ICT) as its newest addition. He said, “For our large enterprise lending, 80 per cent now goes to manufacturing and infrastructure, because these are the sectors that create the most jobs and output for every naira we lend.”
BoI also strengthened its capacity to fund more jobs by raising long-term capital. It closed a €1.879 billion syndicated facility in 2024 and secured €210 million from international development partners in 2025. In 2026, the bank raised funds through a domestic development bond and secured additional financing for agriculture and healthcare manufacturing.
“Investors have placed this money with us because they trust our governance, our pipeline and our results,” Olusi said.
“Our mission is simple: finance what Nigeria makes, and create jobs for Nigerians,” Olusi added.
