Nigeria’s Bank of Industry (BoI) and EIB Global, the development arm of the European Investment Bank, yesterday, signed two financial agreements totalling €135 million to support healthcare manufacturing and agricultural value chains in the country.
The signing took place on the sidelines of the Nigeria-EU Ministerial Summit in Abuja. The first agreement, worth €50 million, targets local production of pharmaceuticals, vaccines and diagnostics. The second, worth €85 million, focuses on agricultural value chains, particularly cocoa and dairy, with at least 70 per cent of loans directed at those sectors.
Speaking at the event, BoI Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Olasupo Olusi, said the healthcare deal would move Nigeria from being a major importer of essential health commodities to a competitive producer within regional and global value chains.
On agriculture, Olusi said BOI would scale support for sustainable agriculture, strengthen critical value chains and enable Nigerian agribusinesses to grow competitively while meeting international environmental and social standards.
The healthcare credit line is financed under the Human Development Accelerator (HDX) programme, backed by the European Commission and implemented by EIB in partnership with the Gates Foundation. It aims to close financing gaps that prevent Nigerian small and medium enterprises from producing quality-assured medicines and diagnostic products.
