Inside BOI’s N636bn Production Push: 1.6m Jobs, Sub-1.5% NPLs – Ogra Highlights Discipline Behind Nigeria’s Industrial Bet
By Arikawe Femi
O’tega Ogra, FCIM, has commended the Bank of Industry (BOI) for deploying N636 billion into Nigeria’s real economy in 2025, describing the intervention as a strategic push for disciplined development finance and sustainable industrial growth.
Ogra, who shared the figures via his verified LinkedIn profile, said the N636 billion was channelled “not into speculation, not into consumption, but into production,” underscoring what he described as a deliberate focus on strengthening Nigeria’s productive base.
O’tega Ogra, FCIM, Senior Special Assistant on Digital/New Media to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu
According to him, N202 billion was disbursed to agro-allied enterprises, N100 billion to infrastructure, N79 billion to manufacturing, N77 billion to extractives, and N55 billion to services.
Breaking the figures down further, he noted that N51 billion went to nano businesses, N32 billion to micro enterprises, N178 billion to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and N375 billion to large industries.
He added that the intervention led to the creation and retention of 1.6 million jobs, while 957,400 beneficiaries were supported under the Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme. Youth-owned enterprises were financed, women-backed businesses received structured capital, and rural enterprises were funded across all 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Ogra particularly highlighted BOI’s asset quality performance, noting that non-performing loans remained below 1.5 per cent.
“That single statistic tells you this was not reckless expansion. It was disciplined development finance. Capital deployed with intelligence. Growth without systemic fragility,” he stated.
He further observed that in a year marked globally by tightening liquidity and macroeconomic pressure, Nigeria’s development finance institution was able to expand lending at scale while maintaining strong asset quality.
“That is not luck. That is reform meeting execution,” he said.
Describing industrialisation as more than rhetoric, Ogra stressed that it is reflected in “balance sheet strength, patient capital and measurable outcomes.”
“Production is the strategy. Inclusion is the method. Discipline is the safeguard. Nigeria is building from the base up. And this is only one institution,” he added.
Ogra concluded by expressing appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for prioritising national development, stating that Nigeria would succeed through sustained reform and execution.
