March 9th, 2022. Cape Town, South Africa – The Bank of Industry (BOI) has received the highly coveted award for the ‘International Syndicated Loan Deal of The Year’ at the Bonds & Loans Africa Awards ceremony which took place on Wednesday, March 9th, 2022 in Mount Nelson, Cape Town. BOI was presented this award in recognition of its $1bn Syndicated Term Loan Facility successfully raised in the international market in December 2020.
“This recognition highlights our impact as Nigeria’s leading Development Finance Institution committed to maximizing our developmental impact by raising and deploying the funds that enhance our capacity to support our customers,” said Mr. Olukayode Pitan, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Bank of Industry, on receiving the award. “We look forward to intensifying our efforts to catalyze sustainable economic growth for Nigeria and the continent at large.
The exhaustive selection process for the awards 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 deals that demonstrate high quality execution, accessing new pools of liquidity, innovative structuring, and opening-up new markets. The 2021 Bonds & Loans Africa Awards was postponed due to the disruptions caused by COVID-19, as such, the ceremony featured winners selected on performance in 2020 and 2021.
Mr. Pitan acknowledged the significant role that myriad strategic partners played in the consummation of this deal in spite of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic: “We are especially grateful for the support of our lead arrangers, underwriters and book runners; Afreximbank, Credit Suisse A.G, Rand Merchant Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation; and The Central Bank of Nigeria which provided a 100% currency swap that allowed us to mitigate foreign exchange rate risks.”
This award comes on the back of BOI’s successful issuance of a €750mn Senior Eurobond (the first by any African national DFI) in February 2022. In the last four years, Bank of Industry has raised about $3.8bn from the international financial market: This includes another syndicated loan of €1bn in March 2020; and a $750mn syndicated medium-term loan in 2018 which has been fully paid off.
The Bonds & Loans Africa Awards has been recognizing the most innovative and ground-breaking deals from sovereign, corporate and financial institution issuers and borrowers since 2014. The annual event brings together the industry’s most high-profile figures thereby raising the profile of the African financial markets with the international investment community.
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About Bank of Industry: The Bank of Industry (BOI) is Nigeria’s foremost and oldest Development Finance Institution and has been in operation for over 60 years: initially incorporated in 1959 as Investment Company of Nigeria (ICON), it became BOI in 2001. BOI’s mission is to transform Nigeria’s industrial sector by providing financial and advisory support services to enterprises. BOI promotes financial inclusion through long-term financing and counter-cyclical loans diversified across industries such as agro-processing, gender businesses and renewable energy, among others. As BOI is not a deposit money Bank, it has to frequently engage in capital raising activities to sustain its capacity to continue supporting its customers across key sectors and segments of the Nigerian economy. BOI has raised about $3.8bn from the international financial market in the last four years. This includes a $750mn syndicated medium-term loan in 2018; a €1bn syndicated loan in March 2020; a $1bn syndicated loan in December 2020; and a €750mn Senior Eurobond (the first by any African national DFI) in February 2022. The $750mn raised in 2018 has been fully paid off while the other loans are performing. In the last 6 years, the Bank has disbursed over $2.7bn to over 3mn enterprises which has facilitated the creation of over 7mn direct and indirect jobs, thereby advancing sustainable development. BOI holds a National Long-Term Rating of ‘AAA (nga)’ and Long-Term Issuer Default Rating of ‘B’ with a stable outlook from Fitch Ratings; and an ‘Aa3.ng/NG-1’ national scale issuer rating and a ‘B2’corporate family rating (CFR) from Moody’s.