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Aruwa Capital Management has made a follow-on investment into Yikodeen Company Limited, one of Nigeria’s leading local manufacturers of industrial safety footwear. As the company marks its tenth anniversary, Yikodeen will use the new capital to optimise and expand its factory through targeted hires, strengthening its marketing and brand positioning, and selectively growing its retail footprint.
This latest capital infusion builds on Aruwa’s initial investment in December 2024 and reflects its continued support for Nigeria’s local manufacturing and import-substitution opportunity. The fresh capital was drawn from Aruwa’s sophomore vehicle, Aruwa Capital Fund II.
“As we mark ten years of building Yikodeen, we are delighted to deepen our partnership with Aruwa, who in a short space of time has been a true partner in our growth journey,” said Atunde Shamsideen Olayinka, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Yikodeen.
Founded in 2016, Yikodeen manufactures safety footwear for regulated and safety-critical sectors, including oil and gas, manufacturing, construction, utilities and select public-sector customers. Since Aruwa’s initial investment in December 2024, Yikodeen has completed the commissioning of its upgraded manufacturing facility and increased its installed production capacity more than tenfold, to approximately 2,500 pairs per day (around 600,000 pairs per annum).
The company has expanded its product range to include application-specific safety footwear, including boots designed for electrical and water-related use cases, and has extended into the consumer market through its YikoPlus brand. As the only certified local manufacturer for safety boots holding Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) certification, Yikodeen has also continued to strengthen its systems and governance to support its next phase of growth.
Its expanded capacity has enabled the company to expand supply to existing customers and onboard new institutional clients, building a growing order pipeline diversified across sectors. Its clients include blue-chip names such as Dangote, Nigerian Bottling Company, Nigerian Breweries, Saipem and Daewoo, among others.
“Having transformed our manufacturing capacity, our focus now is on putting that capacity to work, serving our customers better, and demonstrating that world-class safety footwear and athleisure footwear can be made here in Nigeria. We are grateful to the Aruwa team for their continued support and partnership,” added Olayinka.
Nigeria’s safety footwear market is estimated at approximately $700 million and remains more than 90 per cent served by imports, underpinned by strict health and safety requirements across the oil and gas, manufacturing and construction sectors and a regulatory environment that increasingly favours certified local producers. Aruwa says this presents a significant import-substitution opportunity for manufacturers such as Yikodeen.
“We are proud to continue backing Yikodeen and its founder’s vision to build a leading indigenous safety-footwear manufacturer. The Company substitutes imports, creates quality jobs and advances women’s economic participation while delivering strong commercial returns, exactly the kind of business our fund is built to support,” said Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes, founder & Managing Partner of Aruwa Capital.
Yikodeen’s immediate focus is to optimise its factory through targeted strategic hires to improve production capacity utilisation, strengthen its marketing and brand positioning to accelerate order conversion, and selectively expand its retail infrastructure for further reach to its customer base.
These initiatives are intended to unlock the full value of the company’s installed capacity, create quality manufacturing jobs, including for women, and deepen Nigeria’s domestic industrial base.
