Pastor Kayode Pitan is the current Managing Director of Nigeria’s oldest, largest and perhaps most successful Development Finance Institution, the Bank of Industry which some time in 2019 exceeded N1 trillion in asset base.
His sterling performance at BoI must have resulted in President Muhammadu Buhari approving the renewal of his appointment as the managing director/chief executive officer (CEO) of the Bank of Industry (BOI), for another term of five years in March, 2022.
Pitan has over 30 years of experience across various sectors of the financial services industry.
After a long trajectory of following the exploits of this larger-than-life personality at BoI, this is why I figured that a man of his calibre should be celebrated: “It is better to celebrate a hero in life than in death”.
A biblical allegory posits, “That I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones, That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, That I may glory with Your inheritance”. In other words, Kayode Pitan, who is a Pastor, has made his yet-to-be born generations proud, by keeping a clean slate while at the helm of affairs at a tempting pedestal in the Nation. He is a hero whose position at BoI has transformed lives and has brought smiles to industries in the country. He has made indelible contributions to our conceptual, intellectual and national infrastructures. He is the Patron of the Financial sector, bothering on the nation’s industries, an intellectual, scholar and patriotic exemplar extraordinaire.
The Bank of Industry through his selflessness has encouraged local industrial production and value creation through manufacturing, production and agro processing activities. The Bank primarily provides financial assistance, as well as business advisory/support services to enterprises. The Bank of Industry Ltd, Nigeria’s oldest and largest development finance institution. It is owned by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) Nigeria (94.80%), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) (5.19%) and private shareholders (0.01%). The Bank of Industry has a strong branch network across Nigeria with 24 branches, a headquarters in Lagos State, Nigeria and a corporate office in Abuja, Nigeria.
Pitan has developed people and organizations. According to reports, at the Bank of Industry which he heads, history has been recorded, not only by championing the Federal Government’s Social Investment Programme to reduce poverty and unemployment, but also in the bank’s asset base. It is ever so difficult to quantify the measure of his contribution to lives; and definitely not a life that carried a full measure of providential grace, both as a Pastor and a Technocrat.
His expertise became especially significant with regard to the first time in the history of the bank, when it surpassed N1 trillion in asset base. The group’s profit was over N36 billion. For a bank that is owned basically by the government, it is a very good result. He is a “realistic urban planner” that has led a regional and national development, in the banking industry.
In recognition of the bank’s achievements under Pitan, the International Bankers Magazine conferred on it the Best Development Bank Award.
The award, presented at the London Stock Exchange, was in recognition of the bank’s efforts at widening the spectrum of financial support to the nation’s entrepreneurs, especially the micro, small and medium scale enterprises and the creative industry.
Responding to the Bank’s role in promoting locally made goods, Pitan once said, “Buying locally produced goods and services has played an important role in boosting several economies around the world. The case is no different for Nigeria. BOI’s efforts to promote the “Made in Nigeria” brand have been all encompassing. We have a partnership with the Dangote Foundation to disburse NGN5 billion (USD16.6 million) to support enterprises engaged in the agro-processing, manufacturing, and trading of Nigerian-made goods. The bank also collaborated with Co Creation Hub (CcHUB), Venture Garden Group, and Omidyar Network in 2016 to launch the USD1-million CcHUB Growth Capital Fund to support indigenous ‘next generation infrastructure’ technology builders by making early-stage venture equity investments into their businesses. BOI continues to promote “Made in Nigeria” products through schemes such as our Aba Finished Leather Goods Cluster Financing Program. The bank also creates marketplace opportunities for local producers to showcase their products at international trade fairs and events”.
In what could be described as a letter of confidence, the SGF, Boss Mustapha, while eulogising Pitan’s leadership qualities wrote: Under Pitan’s leadership, BOI has consistently delivered on its mandate to transform Nigeria’s industrial sector by providing long-term financing and counter-cyclical loans diversified across industries such as agro-processing, gender businesses and renewable energy among others”.
In the last five years, BOI has promoted financial inclusion by supporting the expansion of over 3 million enterprises, thereby creating over 7 million jobs.
To expand its capital base to meet the needs of its customers and contribute to the economic growth of Nigeria, Pitan led BOI’s successful foray into the international market and has raised about $3.8bn in the last 4 years. This includes a $750mn syndicated medium-term loan in 2018 (fully paid); 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.
Under his watch, Investors confidence in BOI has been a huge deposit, which reflects in its balance sheet. This has doubled since Pitan’s appointment in 2017, growing significantly from N713billion to about N1.7trillion as of December 2021.
Under his leadership, the bank consistently demonstrates resilience in the face of macro-economic headwinds and recorded remarkable growth, even in face of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“BOI’s growth trajectory is also reflected in its favourable credit ratings from global rating agencies. Recently, Fitch Ratings upgraded the bank’s National Long-Term Rating to ‘AAA(nga)’ from ‘AA+(nga);’ and affirmed the bank’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘B’ with a Stable Outlook”, a statement by BoI wrote.
Other initiatives by the Kayode Pitan led Industry are Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP); $200million Nigerian Content Intervention Fund, targeted at indigenous players in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry for the purpose of procuring fixed assets, funding working capital, refinancing existing loans, etc.The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Clinics, which was floated in collaboration with the Office of the Vice President.
The Bank also expects to generate over 4, 900 new jobs through the One-Local Government, One Product Programme.
Olamide Adeniji is a member of the editorial team of TheScript Newspaper
