Cape Town, South Africa | March 26, 2025 –The Bank of Industry (BOI) has been named winner of the ‘Syndicated Loan Deal of the Year’ at the Global Banking & Markets Africa Awards held in Cape Town, South Africa. The award celebrates BOI’s landmark €1.879 billion syndicated loan, the largest capital raise by any African Development Finance Institution (DFI) to date.
This win marks BOI’s third major award in 2025, reaffirming its leadership in delivering innovative, high-impact financing solutions across the continent.
Mr. Rotimi Akinde, Executive Director, Corporate Finance & Risk Management, accepted the award on behalf of the Managing Director/CEO of BOI, Dr. Olasupo Olusi, and delivered the following remarks:
“We are delighted to receive this prestigious recognition. It underscores the confidence that our partners and the international financial community continue to place in BOI’s strategic direction, credibility, and execution capability. This syndicated loan is more than a transaction — it is a catalyst for inclusive growth, enabling us to scale our impact across Nigeria’s industrial and MSME landscape. As we build on this momentum, we remain focused on mobilizing capital that drives sustainable development, fosters innovation, and supports job creation.”
This achievement is part of BOI’s broader fundraising success, with the Bank raising approximately $7 billion from international markets over the past six years, working alongside over 65 global funding partners. These efforts — through syndicated loans, bilateral facilities, and bond issuances — have significantly strengthened BOI’s capacity to provide affordable, long-term financing to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), large-scale industries, and other critical sectors of the Nigerian economy.
The Global Banking & Markets Awards (formerly the Bonds, Loans & ESG Capital Markets Awards) has been recognising the most innovative and ground-breaking deals from Sovereign, Corporate and Financial Institution issuers and borrowers since 2014.
The exhaustive selection process involves close examination of deal size, tenor, structure, and distribution; analysis and background of the borrower and their accessibility to financing; with extra credit for those deals demonstrating high quality execution, accessing new pools of liquidity, innovative structuring, and opening-up new markets.
