Bank of Industry, the biggest development finance institution in Nigeria raised 1 billion euro ($1 billion) syndicated loan from banks to support small, medium and large businesses in Nigeria, according to the lender.
The facility brokered by lead arrangers Africa Finance Corp. and Standard Chartered Bank could be increased to 1.5 billion euros by the banks if needed, the Lagos-based lender said in an emailed statement on Monday. The loan will support companies “with bankable transactions at affordable naira interest rates,” it said.
Authorities in Africa’s biggest economy are encouraging state-owned financial institutions to provide low-interest credit to manufacturers and small businesses to boost output after the central bank increased its benchmark interest rate by 250 basis points since May to 14%. The Bank of Industry has provided 1.2 trillion naira in loans to more than two million firms in the West African nation from 2015 to 2021, it said.
The loan marks the fifth time the Nigerian lender has tapped the international market for funds since 2018, raising a total of $5 billion to support local firms.
