… Tinubu applauds development lender
Agribusiness has emerged as the biggest beneficiary of the Bank of Industry’s N636 billion credit push in 2025, reinforcing the nation’s support for the agriculture sector.
The record-breaking disbursement marks a significant moment for Nigeria’s leading development finance institution (DFI), as it seeks to anchor food security and industrial growth amid persistent macroeconomic headwinds.
Agribusiness captured N202 billion or roughly 32% of the total funds, far outstripping allocations for infrastructure and manufacturing. N100 billion was disbursed to infrastructure, N79 billion to manufacturing, N77 billion to extractive industries, and N55 billion to services.
The 2025 milestone was achieved despite global macroeconomic challenges that created a significant financing gap and placed pressure on development finance institutions. Demand for BOI financing grew due to its relatively cheaper and longer tenured funding.
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The feat drew commendations from President Bola Tinubu who said BOI’s performance was evidence of economic growth, in a statement.
“The N636 billion disbursed by the Bank of Industry in 2025 translates directly into productive capacity across Nigeria. It financed agro-processing expansion, strengthened manufacturing output, supported infrastructure delivery, and empowered thousands of enterprises across our states.
“At a time of global financing constraints, Nigeria expanded access to long-term capital for its businesses. That is a direct outcome of reform, credibility, and institutional discipline,” Tinubu said.
The renewed focus on agricultural financing aligns with broader policy shifts at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Last year, the apex bank revamped its Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) by inaugurating a new board following the discontinuation of the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme due to high repayment challenges.
Olayemi Cardoso, the governor of the CBN, gave the charge in Abuja during the inauguration ceremony, describing the Scheme as a critical institution that must evolve to meet the financing needs of modern agriculture.
The 48-year-old ACGSF is one of Nigeria’s foremost and longest-standing development finance programmes, with a rich history in our socio-economic journey. It is not the CBN going back to interventions in some sectors, but a continuation of the apex bank’s statutory mandate, which recognises ACGSF. The agriculture sector expanded by 2.82 percent in the second quarter of 2025 (Q2), the first significant growth since the rebasing of the statistical report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Cardoso said the core objective going forward is to make agricultural credit more accessible and inclusive. According to him, “our goal should be that a lack of collateral or remote location is no longer an insurmountable barrier to financing.”
He described agriculture as central to Nigeria’s economic structure, pointing out that despite its contribution to national output and employment, credit to the sector remains very low.
“Agriculture remains the backbone of our economy, contributing over one-fifth of Nigeria’s GDP and employing nearly two-thirds of our working population. Yet, paradoxically, it receives only a small fraction of formal credit – less than 5 percent of banks’ lending goes to the agricultural sector,” he said.
Recent data suggest the sector may be responding to renewed financing attention. Nigeria’s agricultural sector expanded by 2.82 percent in the second quarter of 2025, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), marking a notable improvement from the 0.07 percent growth recorded in the first quarter and slightly above the 2.6 percent posted in the same period a year earlier.
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Further evidence of momentum came from the CBN’s Purchasing Managers’ Index for January, which showed that the agriculture sector Index reached 54.2 points, marking the eighteenth consecutive month of expansion.
Sub-indices for general farming activities, new orders, employment, and raw materials inventory recorded 55.8, 54.1, 52.8, and 54.3 points, respectively, reflecting sustained growth momentum.
“All five agriculture subsectors expanded during the month, with livestock posting the strongest growth,” the CBN report disclosed.
