AfDB Approves $200m Financing Facility for BOI to Boost Nigerian SMEs
Festus Akanbi
Nigeria’s push for industrial expansion and private-sector growth received a major boost over the weekend as the African Development Bank Group approved a $200 million financing facility for the Bank of Industry to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in strategic sectors of the economy.
The approval, announced in a statement published on the AfDB’s website on Friday, is expected to deepen access to long-term financing for businesses in infrastructure, transportation, agro-processing, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and green industrialization, sectors widely considered critical to Nigeria’s economic diversification drive.
Under the arrangement, the AfDB said the facility would provide “patient capital” needed to stimulate industrial growth, particularly among SMEs, women-owned enterprises, and youth-led businesses that often face difficulties accessing financing from conventional lenders.
