BoI’s N250bn maiden development bond oversubscribed in 5 days

Bank of Industry N250 billion maiden development bond has been oversubscribed in five days by a diverse pool of institutional investors.

The bank said this in a statement, saying the bond was issued through BOI Financing SPV Plc under the bank’s $1bn Multi-Currency Instruments Programme.

It listed some of the investors to include the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Pension fund administrators, banks, development finance institutions, corporates and other institutional investors participated in the transaction.

Dr Olasupo Olusi, the Chief Executive of the bank, described the response of the investors as a strong endorsement of the Bank and the domestic capital market.

He said the high demand was an indication that the domestic capital market could provide long-term funding for productive investment.

“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.”

Olusi said the bank would ultimately channel the confidence demonstrated by investors into financing for Nigerian businesses, supporting industrial expansion, job creation, stronger domestic value chains and a more competitive economy.

He commended President Bola Tinubu for his intervention, saying, the offer would not have received the strong investor demand for the bond in five working days without the support of President Tinubu.

The BOI Chief Executive said Tinubu gave his executive approval for various incentives to encourage the investors.

He said the proceeds from the offer would be deployed to enhancing the capacity of the bank’s capacity to finance eligible enterprises across priority sectors, with the potential to support productive capacity, local value addition, employment and economic diversification.