The Bank of Industry Limited (BoI) has secured strong institutional demand for its maiden N250 billion Series 1 Fixed Rate Bond, with the offer oversubscribed within five working days.

The development highlights the capacity of Nigeria’s domestic capital market to mobilise long-term funding for productive investment and economic development.

The bond was issued through BoI Financing SPV Plc under the bank’s $1 billion Multi-Currency Instruments Programme and attracted a diverse group of investors, including Pension Fund Administrators, banks, Development Finance Institutions, corporates and other institutional investors.

The transaction also received anchor support from the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority and the International Finance Corporation, reflecting strong institutional confidence in BoI’s credit profile and its growing role in the domestic capital market.

However, BoI said the final subscription and allotment figures would not be disclosed at this stage, as the allotment remains subject to approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the transaction is still progressing towards completion.

Commenting on the milestone, BoI Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Olasupo Olusi, said the strong investor response demonstrated the ability of the domestic capital market to support development financing at scale.

Olusi attributed part of the strong demand to interventions by President Bola Tinubu, particularly executive approval for incentives designed to encourage investor participation in the bond.

“The strength of the investor response is a vote of confidence not only in BoI, but also in the capacity of Nigeria’s domestic capital market to mobilise long-term capital for productive investment,” he said.

The BoI chief executive said the bank could not have achieved the strong investor response within five working days without the support of the President, whose approval for various incentives provided a positive signal to investors.

Olusi also disclosed that a N100 billion fund approved for BoI by Tinubu would be used to blend the pricing of the bond and cushion the impact of high interest rates on manufacturers and other BoI customers.

“This is further testament of Mr. President’s support for Nigeria’s productive sector,” he said.

According to BoI, the immediate significance of the transaction lies in the strength and quality of investor demand, the pricing achieved and the broad participation across institutional investor classes.

The bank said proceeds from the bond would strengthen its capacity to provide long-term financing to eligible businesses in priority sectors, with emphasis on productive capacity, local value addition, job creation and economic diversification.

Olusi said the ultimate objective was to translate investor confidence into increased financing for Nigerian businesses, with potential benefits for industrial expansion, employment generation, domestic value chains and economic competitiveness.

The successful issuance also marks a further expansion of BoI’s funding base, complementing its access to international capital markets with increased mobilisation of long-term funds from domestic institutional investors.

BoI said the strong participation of pension fund administrators, banks, DFIs, corporates and other institutional investors reflected sustained appetite for high-quality, long-term domestic assets.

The participation of NSIA and IFC as anchor investors, it added, further strengthened the institutional depth of the transaction and reinforced the bank’s position as a credible issuer in Nigeria’s capital market.

The bank said the successful bond should be viewed not only as a major fundraising exercise but also as evidence of the potential of Nigeria’s domestic capital market to channel long-term institutional savings into productive sectors.

BoI said the transaction would strengthen its position as a repeat capital-markets issuer while providing additional funding capacity for the establishment, expansion, diversification, modernisation and rehabilitation of Nigerian businesses.

The bank reaffirmed that its broader financing mandate remains focused on industrial development, import substitution, poverty reduction, job creation and economic diversification.