Nigeria’s Bank of Industry (BOI) has announced that it will invest $6 million in small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

DailyTrust reports that the investment will be carried out through a $60 million venture capital fund being raised by Grow Africa Equity Partners Limited.

The report indicates that the Bank of Industry (BoI) and Grow Africa Equity Partners Limited had reached an agreement to raise a $60 million venture fund for small businesses out of which the BOI will invest $6 million to provide equity capital for SMEs.

“Nigerian businesses cannot be built on debt alone. It has long been part of the bank’s vision to find ways to provide sorely needed equity capital and business advice to promising Nigerian businesses,” said Rasheed Olaoluwa, managing director of the Bank of Industry. “Our partnership with Grow Africa is one of the avenues for realising this vision and we remain committed to the pursuit of our core mandate of providing long-term financial support to small, medium and large companies and projects in Nigeria’s key sectors,” he added.

The Bank of Industry is an industrial development-financing organization. A few months ago the BOI invested in a Lagos-based mobile payments company, SimplePay and a renewable energy provider, Arnergy Solar.

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