Afreximbank Backs $81.9m Nigerian Tile Plant Expansion Targeting African Markets

November 3, 2026 | By Semahegn Nigatu

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has provided 81.9 million US dollars in financing to expand a Nigerian porcelain tile manufacturing plant, supporting plans to triple production capacity and extend sales into eight African markets.

The financing, extended to Veenocks Limited, will support the expansion of its manufacturing facility in Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria. The project has an estimated total cost of 145 million US dollars.

The expansion is expected to increase the plant's annual production capacity from 3.3 million to 9.9 million square metres, strengthening its capacity to serve Nigeria's domestic market and pursue regional trade opportunities.

The company's targeted markets include Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Cameroon, Ghana, Mauritania and Senegal, according to Afreximbank.

The financing follows an earlier two million US dollar agreement signed between the bank and Veenocks in August 2024 under its Project Preparation Facility (PPF). The funding covered technical, commercial, financial, legal, environmental and social studies required to establish the project's bankability.

Afreximbank said the studies helped the manufacturer reassess its growth ambitions beyond Nigeria and develop plans to pursue regional markets over the medium term.

The 81.9 million US dollar senior term loan will finance additional manufacturing capacity as the company moves into the expansion phase.

The investment is also expected to increase employment at the facility. Veenocks currently employs more than 200 people directly, with the expansion projected to create an additional 300 direct jobs. Further employment is expected across raw material supply, logistics and distribution.

The project preparation financing has been fully repaid from the senior debt, replenishing the facility's capital for other projects.

Kanayo Awani, Afreximbank's executive vice-president for Intra-African Trade and Export Development, said the project demonstrated how preparation financing and commercial expertise could help African manufacturers secure industrial investment and develop regional trade ambitions. She said repayment of the preparation facility would allow the bank to recycle the funds into other projects supporting indigenous African investors and manufacturing.

Adebisi Abidemi Adebutu, group president of R28 Holdings, Veenocks' parent company, said the investment would help build a manufacturing business capable of producing tiles to European quality standards while reducing Nigeria's dependence on imported products. He said the expansion would also increase the use of Nigerian raw materials and supply locally manufactured porcelain tiles to customers in domestic and regional markets.

The project reflects Afreximbank's efforts to support industrial capacity and intra-African trade through a combination of project preparation and long-term financing.

Source: FSX Business News