Nigeria’s push to embed innovation at the core of economic growth gained renewed traction in 2025 after the Bank of Industry (BOI) funded 100 technology ventures under its Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) programme.
The intervention forms part of a record ₦636 billion disbursement by the development finance institution during the year, the highest annual financing volume in its history, and signals a deliberate expansion of structured capital into Nigeria’s fast-evolving digital economy.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, while commending the Bank’s performance, frames the scale of lending as evidence of reform-driven credibility and institutional discipline.
Although the bulk of BOI’s ₦636 billion financing in 2025 was directed to agro-allied enterprises, infrastructure, manufacturing, extractive industries and services, the inclusion of 100 technology ventures reflects a broader interpretation of productive capacity: one that now formally recognises innovation-driven enterprises as strategic economic assets.
“Development finance must be disciplined, measurable, and aligned with national priorities. What we are witnessing is the transition from strategy to scale. Our economic transformation will be built on production, value addition, and enterprise growth. We will continue to crowd in capital, deepen institutional reform, and ensure that access to finance supports real sector expansion across Nigeria,” the President says.
BOI: Development banking meets digital ambition
Although the bulk of BOI’s ₦636 billion financing in 2025 was directed to agro-allied enterprises, infrastructure, manufacturing, extractive industries and services, the inclusion of 100 technology ventures reflects a broader interpretation of productive capacity: one that now formally recognises innovation-driven enterprises as strategic economic assets.
Nigeria’s technology ecosystem has expanded rapidly over the past decade, but growth capital has largely depended on foreign venture flows that fluctuate with global macroeconomic conditions. By stepping more decisively into the sector, BOI is injecting longer-tenure, policy-aligned capital into a space typically shaped by high-risk private equity and venture capital dynamics.
Beyond direct funding, the iDICE programme prepared 500 founders for investment readiness and trained 400 youths through innovation initiatives designed to reach more than 300,000 Nigerians. The structure of the intervention reflects a layered strategy: capital deployment, founder grooming and ecosystem-wide capacity building.
Investment readiness programmes generally strengthen governance frameworks, financial controls, scalability planning and compliance systems; elements that determine whether startups can attract follow-on capital and sustain growth.
Reform narrative and asset quality discipline
President Tinubu linked the Bank’s expanded lending activity to the administration’s broader macroeconomic reform agenda.
“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,” he says.
The President also notes that BOI maintained a non-performing loan ratio below 1.5% despite prevailing macroeconomic headwinds, a metric that underscores asset quality resilience even as lending volumes expanded.
Innovation as national productivity strategy
The funding of 100 technology ventures, alongside founder preparation and youth innovation training, signals a policy shift that positions digital and creative enterprises alongside agriculture and manufacturing as engines of productivity.
As Nigeria seeks to deepen value addition, expand exports and reduce structural dependence on commodity cycles, development finance institutions are increasingly being deployed as catalytic instruments for the digital economy.
Whether the sustained infusion of structured capital translates into globally competitive technology firms and stronger digital export earnings will depend on execution, governance discipline and continued reform momentum.
For now, BOI’s 2025 financing programme signals that public development finance is moving decisively into Nigeria’s innovation economy, not as a peripheral experiment, but as a strategic pillar of national growth.
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