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The Chairman, Board of Directors, BOI, Aliyua Dikko, made this known while delivering his opening remarks at the inauguration of the bank’s second tower in Abuja.
The tower was inaugurated by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) who attended the event virtually.
Dikko also noted that in the last five years, working alongside its strategic partners, the bank had supported over 3.2m Micro, Small, Medium-scale Enterprises, and created over 7.1m direct and indirect jobs in the process
He said, “For decades, the Bank of Industry has delivered appreciable results on its mandate towards transforming Nigeria’s industrial sector by providing affordable and long-term financing across key segments and sectors of the economy.
“In the last five years alone, working alongside our strategic partners, the bank has supported over 3.2 million Micro, Small, and Medium-scale enterprises and created over 7.1 million direct and indirect jobs in the process.
“The bank’s total assets have grown from N683bn in 2016 to N1.7tn in 2021.”
Also in attendance was the Managing Director, BOI, Olakayode Pitan, who disclosed that the edifice was completed in October 2021 and entirely financed using the Bank’s Internally Generated Revenue.
He appreciated the Federal Government for its continued support to the BoI, adding that this has enabled the Bank to acquire million-dollar syndicated loans from the international capital market.
The loans, according to him, have significantly improved the capacity of the bank to continually support Nigeria’s real sector.
One of the loans, a $750m syndicated medium-term loan in 2018, has been fully repaid, he added.
Other loans acquired through the bank include, “a €1bn syndicated loan in March 2020; a $1bn syndicated loan in December 2020; and the most recent one, the €750m senior Eurobond (the first by any African national DFI) in February 2022.”
While appreciating the President for renewing his tenure and that of the chairman, Pitan pledged to complete the ongoing succession planning project before the end of his five-year tenure.
According to him, close to $4bn has been raised for the project from over 100 international banks and investors in the last four years.
“Most of the funds end up as part of our foreign reserve. We believe that in the next few years, we could increase that figure to about $10bn,” he added.
