The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has approved an $81.9 million loan for Veenocks Limited to expand its porcelain tile manufacturing plant in Sagamu, Ogun State, and extend its operations into other African markets.
The expansion project is estimated to cost $145 million and is expected to increase the plant’s annual production capacity from 3.3 million to 9.9 million square metres.
Afreximbank’s partnership with Veenocks dates back to August 2024, when both parties signed a $2 million Project Preparation Facility (PPF) agreement to finance the technical, legal and social studies required to establish the project’s viability.
The studies informed the company’s plans to expand beyond Nigeria and serve markets in Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Cameroon, Ghana, Mauritania and Senegal.
The $81.9 million senior term loan will finance the expansion, which is expected to boost production capacity to meet demand across the targeted markets.
The project is also expected to increase Veenocks’ workforce from 200 to 500 employees, creating an additional 300 jobs.
Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President of Intra-African Trade and Export Development at Afreximbank, said the bank’s support had helped transform Veenocks’ regional expansion plans into a viable project.
“The studies financed through Afreximbank’s Project Preparation Facility have helped strengthen the project’s bankability and broaden the company’s regional growth ambitions,” Awani said.
Veenocks also repaid its initial $2 million PPF facility using part of the new $81.9 million loan.
Awani described the repayment as a demonstration of the facility’s revolving financing model, which allows funds recovered from projects to support other African businesses.
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“Full repayment of the preparation financing ensures capital is available to support more indigenous African investors and projects,” she said.
“This is the PPF’s revolving model in practice: the funds that have been repaid are used to support initiatives that add value to local resources and expand manufacturing.”
Adebisi Adebutu, President of R28 Holdings, the parent company of Veenocks Limited, said the investment would enable the company to manufacture world-class porcelain tiles and reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported products.
“With Afreximbank’s financing, we can now deliver the expansion phase of this project. The facility will allow us to add value to Nigeria’s raw materials, create quality jobs and increase the supply of our porcelain tiles,” Adebutu said.
He added that the company aimed to set a global standard for quality in tile manufacturing and become Africa’s preferred producer of porcelain tiles.
“Our vision is to set the global benchmark for quality in tile manufacturing and to become Africa’s first choice for porcelain tiles,” he said.
