….supports 12,500 MSMEs, 1,615 startups, deploys N644bn in 2025

The Bank of Industry (BOI) has unveiled its inaugural Annual Development Impact Report, revealing that it deployed N644 billion in development finance in 2025 to support more than 12,500 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and 1,615 startups, while setting out plans to channel 35 percent of its 2026 financing to small-scale businesses.

The report, presented in Abuja on Thursday, provides the clearest picture yet of the development finance institution’s shift from a volume-driven lender to an impact-focused institution, with growing emphasis on measurable job creation, industrial expansion and inclusive enterprise growth.

Under its 2026 roadmap, BOI said it is repositioning itself to play a more strategic role in Nigeria’s industrialisation agenda by deliberately steering capital towards priority sectors and underserved enterprise segments.

At the top of that strategy is a commitment to channel more than one-third of total financing this year to small businesses, alongside broader allocation targets designed to deepen access to credit and strengthen value chains.

The bank said the new framework is anchored on six key financing levers that will guide its interventions in 2026. These include targeted capital allocation across enterprise classes and sectors, with 35 percent of funding directed to MSMEs, while 80 percent of large enterprise financing will go to priority sectors identified as critical to industrial growth.

It also plans to allocate 30 percent of large enterprise financing to infrastructure projects, 15 percent to women-owned businesses, and 20 percent of MSME financing to…