President Bola Tinubu has commended the Bank of Industry for disbursing N636bn to businesses in 2025, describing it as the highest annual financing volume in the institution’s history.
The President’s remarks were contained in a statement issued on Thursday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga. The statement highlighted the role of the disbursement in supporting businesses across Nigeria.
The statement said the N636bn disbursement by the Bank of Industry in 2025 translated into financing activities across multiple sectors.
A breakdown showed that agro-allied enterprises received the largest share at N202bn. Critical national infrastructure, including broadband, power, aviation, and transportation, accounted for N100bn of the total.
Manufacturing received N79bn, while extractive industries were allocated N77bn and services N55bn.
The bank also deployed N73bn in managed and matching funds on behalf of state governments and institutional partners.
The funds reached more than 7,000 enterprises nationwide. By business size, large enterprises accounted for N375bn; small and medium enterprises received N178bn; nano enterprises got N51bn; and micro businesses accessed N32bn.
Under the Federal Government’s N200bn micro, small and medium enterprise intervention programme, the Bank of Industry recorded over 95 per cent performance as the disbursing institution. The Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme reached 957,400 beneficiaries in 2025.
The statement said the Bank of Industry’s financing activities led to the creation and retention of about 1.6 million jobs, and supported more than 7,000 micro, small and medium enterprises and 570 startups during the year.
The Bank of Industry also supported gender-focused and rural enterprise programmes. Through the Guaranteed Loans for Women programme, a N10bn facility provided up to N50m per beneficiary, and youth-owned enterprises received N12bn in financing.
In addition, 880 rural-based enterprises accessed more than N6.5bn under the Rural Area Programme on Investment for Development.
The Bank of Industry said it also backed strategic interventions such as upgrading a tomato processing facility from 3.1 metric tonnes per hour to 10 metric tonnes per hour and linking 47,508 smallholder farmers to formal processing value chains.
The bank financed the deployment of 100 mini-grids that connected 11,777 new customers to electricity during the year.
According to the statement, Bank of Industry-financed projects contributed to an estimated annual reduction of more than 20,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.
The statement said the Bank of Industry maintained strong asset quality in 2025, recording a non-performing loan ratio below 1.5 per cent despite macroeconomic headwinds.
It noted a €2bn syndicated facility secured in 2024 and an additional €210m mobilised from international partners in 2025.
President Tinubu welcomed the Bank of Industry’s designation as Nigeria’s first National Implementing Entity to the United Nations Adaptation Fund, a status that recognises its role in global development finance.
