Castolin West Africa Ltd takes root in Nigeria

Aged only six months, the new-born subsidiary “Castolin West Africa Ltd”, with the headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria, is already showing great progress with its engineering team and facilities construction well underway. Castolin Eutectic and Deefort Ent. International Ltd. teamed up via a Joint Venture agreement in December 2014 (Frankfurt, Germany) to found a Premium Service, Maintenance and Repair company offering wear protection services to the country´s giant oil and cement industries.

The goals of Castolin West Africa Ltd are to expand the scope of currently offered services on the Nigerian market, develop welding and coating training activities, create strategic alliances with the country´s major Oil and Cement industrial players and to establish advanced on-site repair capabilities.

Bill McDougall, CEO of Castolin Eutectic Africa Middle East Division, explains “Our relationship to Deefort already dates back many years and it has grown like a flower in the desert. Given Nigeria’s emerging economy and government incentives encouraging foreign investment, this is a great opportunity for growth.”

Foreign companies investing in Nigeria can apply for Pioneer status in respect to supporting industries located in economically disadvantaged areas, which could enable them to develop into profitable companies in a relatively short time. This foreign investment is also targeted at stimulating local manufacturing and use of domestic raw materials.

Deefort Ent. International Ltd, which started as a distributor of Castolin Eutectic welding consumables in Nigeria, was founded in February 2008 as a welding one-stop-shop, providing both wear control supplies and services. Deefort is led by Ajibola Olajide, holding a Master’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from the University of Liverpool, together with his spouse, Adeola Olajide, who has almost 20 years’ experience as a welding engineer and also holds an MBA from the University of Lagos.