African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has supported the development and expansion of Veenocks Limited’s porcelain tile manufacturing plant in Sagamu, Ogun State, Nigeria, through its Project Preparation Facility (PPF) and a $81.9 million senior term loan. The project has a total estimated cost of $145 million.
Afreximbank and Veenocks signed a $2 million project preparation facility agreement in August 2024 to finance technical, commercial, financial, legal, environmental and social studies needed to establish the project’s bankability.
The studies financed through the PPF, complemented by Afreximbank’s pan-African experience, enabled Veenocks to broaden its growth ambitions beyond its primary focus on the Nigerian market. This support informed the company’s plans to pursue regional opportunities over the medium term, with target markets including Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Cameroon, Ghana, Mauritania and Senegal.
The Afreximbank’s $81.9 million senior term loan supports implementation of the plant’s expansion, providing financing for investment in additional manufacturing capacity. The expansion is expected to increase the plant’s total annual production capacity from 3.3 million to 9.9 million square metres, creating a stronger production base to meet domestic demand and pursue regional opportunities.
The existing plant employs more than 200 people directly. The expansion is expected to create an additional 300 direct jobs, alongside indirect employment across raw material supply, logistics and distribution.
The preparation financing has been fully repaid from senior debt, completing the PPF’s funding cycle for Veenocks and replenishing capital to support further projects.
Kanayo Awani, executive vice president, Intra-African Trade and Export Development, Afreximbank, said: “Veenocks demonstrates how project preparation, commercial expertise and senior debt financing can support African industrial investment. The studies financed through Afreximbank’s Project Preparation Facility have helped strengthen the project’s bankability and broaden the company’s regional growth ambitions. Our senior debt financing supports the plant expansion needed to convert those ambitions into increased productive capacity, and stronger foundations for intra-African trade.”
Awani added: “Full repayment of the preparation financing ensures capital is available to support more indigenous African investors and projects. 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 Abidemi Adebutu, group president of R28 Holdings, the parent company of Veenocks Limited, said: “This investment represents an important step towards our ambition of building a globally competitive manufacturing business in Nigeria, producing world-class tiles to European quality standards and reducing Nigeria’s dependence on imported tiles.
“The PPF was instrumental in broadening our growth plans and positioning us to penetrate regional markets over the medium term. 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, manufactured here in Nigeria, to customers at home and across the region. Our vision is to set the global benchmark for quality in tile manufacturing and to become Africa’s first choice for porcelain tiles,” Adebutu said.
Iheanyi Nwachukwu, is a creative content writer with over two decades journalism experience writing on banking, finance, capital markets, and tax. The multiple awards winning journalist is Deputy Editor, BusinessDay. Iheanyi holds BSc Degree in Economics from Imo State University; Master of Science (MSc) Degree in Management from University of Lagos. Iheanyi has attended several work-related trainings including (i) Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (Pan African University, Lagos); (ii) News Agency Journalism (Indian Institute of Mass Communication {IIMC}, New Delhi, India); and (iii) Capital Markets Development and Regulations (International Law Institute {ILI} of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA). Other trainings Iheanyi attended include: Economic/Political Risk Analysis (By Thomson Reuters Foundation); International Financial Journalism (IFJ) (By PMA Media Training, UK); Effective Business Writing Skills (By Phillips Consulting); Reporting on Corporate Governance (By International Finance Corporation (IFC) & Thomson Reuters Foundation UK); etc. In addition, he has participated in high-level economy & markets events in Dubai, South Africa, Morocco, and other African countries like Zambia, Ghana and Gambia.
