BoI increases assets to N1.7tn, says chairman

The Bank of Industry grew its assets from N683 billion in 2016 to N1.7 billion in 2021.

BOI Chairman of the Board Aliyua Dikko made this known during 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 (retired) who attended the event virtually.

Dikko also noted that over the past five years, together with its strategic partners, the bank has supported more than 3.2 million micro, small and medium enterprises and created more than 7.1 million direct jobs and indirect in the process.

He said, “For decades, the Bank of Industry has delivered appreciable results in its mandate to transform the Nigerian industrial sector by providing affordable and long-term finance in key segments and sectors of the economy.

“In the past five years alone, together with our strategic partners, the bank has supported over 3.2 million micro, small and medium enterprises and created over 7.1 million direct and indirect jobs in the process. .

“The bank’s total assets have grown from N683 billion in 2016 to N1.7 billion in 2021.”

Also present was the Managing Director, BOI, Olakayode Pitan, who disclosed that the building was completed in October 2021 and fully funded using the Bank’s internally generated revenue.

He appreciated the Federal Government’s continued support for the BoI, adding that it has enabled the Bank to acquire $1 million in syndicated loans in the international capital market.

The loans, he said, have significantly improved the bank’s ability to continuously support the Nigerian real sector.

One of the loans, a $750 million medium-term syndicated loan in 2018, was fully repaid, he added.

Other loans acquired through the bank include “a €1 billion syndicated loan in March 2020; a syndicated loan of $1 billion in December 2020; and the most recent, the €750m senior Eurobond (the first from an African national DFI) in February 2022.”

While appreciating the President for renewing his term and that of President, Pitan pledged to complete the ongoing succession planning project before the end of his five-year term.

According to him, nearly $4 billion has been raised for the project from more than 100 international banks and investors over the past four years.

“Most of the funds end up as part of our foreign exchange reserve. We believe that in the next few years we could increase this figure to around $10 billion,” he added.

Meanwhile, in his remarks, Buhari commended the bank’s management for staying focused on diversifying the economy through providing single-digit interest rate loans to small, medium and large businesses.

Specifically, the President said that over 1.4 billion naira had been disbursed by the bank to Nigerian businesses, adding that the impact of this had led to the creation of over nine million jobs for Nigerians. .

He also tasked the bank to take its development progress to the next level through greater empowerment of the country’s businesses.

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