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African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has provided financing support for the expansion of Veenocks Limited's porcelain tile manufacturing facility in Nigeria, in a project valued at $145 million and aimed at boosting industrial production, creating jobs and expanding regional trade.

The Cairo-based lender said it had supported the project through a $2 million Project Preparation Facility (PPF) and an $81.9 million senior term loan for the expansion of the plant located in Sagamu, Ogun State.

Afreximbank and Veenocks signed the project preparation agreement in August 2024, with the facility funding technical, commercial, financial, legal and environmental studies required to make the project bankable.

The bank said the studies, combined with its advisory support, helped Veenocks broaden its growth strategy beyond Nigeria and identify regional export opportunities in countries including Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Cameroon, Ghana, Mauritania and Senegal.

The $81.9 million senior term loan will finance additional manufacturing capacity at the facility, increasing annual production from 3.3 million square metres of porcelain tiles to 9.9 million square metres.

The expansion is expected to strengthen local production, reduce reliance on imports and position the company to serve markets across West and Central Africa.

Veenocks currently employs more than 200 people directly. The expansion is projected to create an additional 300 direct jobs, alongside indirect employment opportunities in raw material supply, logistics and distribution.

Afreximbank said the preparation financing has been fully repaid from the senior debt facility, allowing the funds to be recycled into other development projects under the bank's revolving project preparation model.

Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President for Intra-African Trade and Export Development at Afreximbank, said the project demonstrated how project preparation and long-term financing could support industrialisation and strengthen intra-African trade.

"The studies financed through Afreximbank's Project Preparation Facility have helped strengthen the project's bankability and broaden the company's regional growth ambitions," she said.

Adebisi Abidemi Adebutu, Group President of R28 Holdings, Veenocks' parent company, said the investment would support the firm's goal of building a globally competitive manufacturing business in Nigeria and producing porcelain tiles that meet European quality standards.

He said the expansion would enable the company to add value to local raw materials, create jobs and increase supplies to domestic and regional markets.

"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.