Two Former Multinational Executives Build African Chemical Company as Alliance Chemicals Records 1,400% Revenue Growth

Two childhood friends who once worked for global chemical giants BASF and Dow Chemical have turned their international corporate experience into a growing African industrial business, with Alliance Chemicals Global recording a 1,400% increase in revenue over four years and now preparing to move deeper into local chemical manufacturing.

Founded in 2022 by Taiwo Ilesanmi and Gbenga Akanmu, Alliance Chemicals was created around a problem the founders encountered repeatedly in the African manufacturing market: manufacturers needed reliable access to quality chemical inputs, but the supply chain was often fragmented, slow and expensive.

Today, the company is positioning itself not simply as a chemical distributor, but as a supply-chain and infrastructure partner helping manufacturers source, store and access chemical products more efficiently.

The story began long before Alliance Chemicals was established.

Ilesanmi and Akanmu grew up on the same street in Ibadan, with families that were already close. Although their careers eventually took them to different countries, both developed expertise that would later become relevant to the business they would build together.

Ilesanmi began his career in management consulting at KPMG before joining BASF, one of the world’s largest chemical companies. His experience at BASF exposed him to sales, supply chain, operations and technical aspects of the global chemical industry, including visits to major manufacturing facilities in Germany, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

For him, one of the biggest lessons was that the chemical industry was ultimately about solving customer problems rather than simply selling products.

Akanmu took a different route.

With a background in computer science and mathematics, he initially worked in technology and financial services before pursuing an MBA. An unexpected interview invitation led him to Dow Chemical rather than Dow Jones, as he had initially assumed. He accepted the opportunity and eventually joined Dow’s finance leadership development programme.

His experience gave him exposure to corporate finance, capital allocation, risk management and the economics of operating in African markets.

Together, the two founders brought complementary experience to the opportunity they saw in Africa.

They recognised that the continent had growing demand for chemical inputs across industries ranging from detergents and personal care to construction and manufacturing, but that manufacturers often had to navigate multiple layers of suppliers, international shipping, foreign exchange, customs, storage and quality assurance to secure what they needed.

Alliance Chemicals set out to take on that complexity.

“We call ourselves a chemical supply chain company,” Ilesanmi said, distinguishing the company’s model from conventional chemical trading.

The company works with manufacturers to understand their requirements, forecast demand and make products available when needed. It has invested in warehouses, trucks, bulk tanks, holding facilities, laboratory capabilities and quality assurance infrastructure to support that model.

Speed has also become a central part of the company’s proposition.

Rather than operating with the lengthy decision-making structures that can characterise large multinational organisations, Alliance has built its operations around responding quickly to the needs of African manufacturers.

That approach has helped the company build relationships with customers that initially began with small orders and eventually developed into significantly larger contracts.

According to the founders, Alliance’s revenue increased roughly fivefold during its first year, while revenue growth between its first and fourth years reached approximately 1,400%. By 2026, the company had reached eight-figure revenue.

The business has also attracted institutional investment, including funding from Africa-focused venture capital firm Oui Capital. The founders say they are now exploring additional sources of capital, including development finance institutions and sovereign investors.

The company’s growth is now taking it into a new phase.

Alliance plans to begin blending some of the chemicals it currently imports and move further into local manufacturing at the Lagos Free Zone. Two product lines are expected to begin operations in January 2027.

Its location, approximately one kilometre from the deep-sea port, is expected to provide a strategic advantage as the company expands its manufacturing and supply-chain operations.

The move is also driven by a broader ambition to support import substitution.

Some chemical products currently imported into Nigeria are blended products containing significant quantities of water. Alliance sees an opportunity to import the active chemical components and undertake more of the processing locally, reducing unnecessary transportation costs and pressure on foreign exchange.

Over time, the founders want to move further upstream into chemical manufacturing and eventually produce raw materials that can support a wider range of African industries.

Their long-term ambition includes the possibility of developing a chemical cracker capable of producing base materials for a much larger industrial ecosystem.

For Ilesanmi and Akanmu, however, the objective extends beyond building a successful company.

They see reliable chemical supply chains as an important part of Africa’s industrialisation journey.

Manufacturing requires more than factories. It depends on ports, financing, storage, transportation, technical expertise, quality assurance and companies capable of connecting these different parts of the value chain.

Alliance Chemicals is seeking to occupy that space.

“When they succeed, we succeed,” Ilesanmi said of the manufacturers the company serves.

The company currently employs 45 people and has also invested in developing young talent, including employees who joined through the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). Alliance works with universities and chemistry departments to expose young professionals to the commercial side of chemical science and industrial development.

For Akanmu, building Africa’s industrial capacity requires connecting technical knowledge with commercial thinking, finance and supply-chain expertise.

As Africa’s population and consumer markets continue to expand, demand for manufactured goods is expected to create corresponding demand for the chemical inputs behind those products.

For the two founders, that represents a long-term opportunity.

They are building Alliance Chemicals around the belief that Africa should not remain dependent on importing finished chemical products when more of the value chain can be developed locally.

The journey from two childhood friends in Ibadan, through careers at some of the world’s largest corporations, to building an African industrial company is now entering its next chapter.

Their ambition is no longer simply to distribute chemicals.

It is to help build the infrastructure that allows African manufacturers to produce more, source more efficiently and compete at scale.