AfDB APPROVES $200M FOR BANK OF INDUSTRY TO FUND NIGERIAN SMEs

Facility targets agro-processing, health, green industries; 30% earmarked for small businesses

The African Development Bank has approved a $200 million financing facility for Nigeria's Bank of Industry, directing at least 30 percent of the capital toward small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly businesses owned by women and young entrepreneurs.

The AfDB's board approved the sovereign-guaranteed facility on May 15 to provide medium- and long-term funding for businesses in infrastructure and transport, agro-food processing, health and pharmaceuticals, and green industrialisation, sectors identified as critical to Nigeria's industrial transformation.

The package includes a $650,000 technical assistance grant from the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance to strengthen SME capacity and improve ESG practices. A separate AFAWA component will improve access to finance and value chains for women-owned enterprises.

BOI Managing Director Olasupo Olusi said the facility builds on the institution's prior $100 million AfDB credit line, which was fully repaid in 2025. "This financing delivers tangible economic opportunities, job creation, and inclusive growth across Nigeria," he said.

The approval comes as Nigerian businesses face some of the highest financing costs in more than a decade following aggressive monetary tightening by the CBN. The facility is aimed at easing a persistent credit squeeze on SMEs that has constrained industrial expansion and job creation.