Ghanaian flooring firm enters Kenya

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Ghanaian entrepreneur Basil David Anthony is taking Modern Floors and Walls into the East African market, beginning with Kenya, as the flooring and interior-finishing company accelerates its international expansion.

The move marks the latest phase of a strategy that has already established the Ghana-founded business in the United Arab Emirates, where it set up a strategic base to support international sourcing, procurement and supply operations.

Founded in Ghana in 2018, Modern Floors and Walls has grown from a domestic flooring and interior-finishing venture into a business with ambitions of becoming an African-owned company with operations across international markets.

Anthony established Basil Modern Floors and Walls in Dubai in December 2022, creating a platform to coordinate relationships with international manufacturers and suppliers while supporting the company’s expansion across Africa.

The Dubai operation serves as a holding, procurement, sourcing, and regional supply hub for the group, linking its African operations with international manufacturers and suppliers.

Kenya is now emerging as the company’s gateway into East Africa.

From Accra to Dubai and Nairobi

Anthony said the Kenyan entry was part of a broader strategy to transform Modern Floors and Walls from a successful Ghanaian enterprise into an African-owned flooring and building-finishing brand with an international footprint.

Ghana remains the company’s operational foundation, while Dubai provides an international platform for procurement, sourcing and supplier relationships.

“We started by building the business in Ghana, but the vision was never to remain in one market,” Anthony said.

“Establishing our company in Dubai gave us an international platform from which we could strengthen procurement, sourcing and our relationships with manufacturers. Kenya is now the next important step in that journey.”

Rather than entering several East African markets at once, Anthony said the company would initially concentrate on establishing a strong presence in Kenya, understanding local demand, developing partnerships and putting in place the infrastructure required for long-term regional expansion.

“For me, expansion is not simply about putting the company's name in another country. We want to build proper operations, create local opportunities and develop a business that can remain in the market for the long term,” he said.

The Kenyan operation will offer a portfolio of flooring, wall and interior-finishing products, including stone plastic composite (SPC) flooring, SPC wall panels and carpet tiles.

The company will also provide installation and after-sales services as it seeks to establish a foothold in the Kenyan construction and interior-design market.

Anthony said the company's strategy extends beyond selling products, with plans to build relationships with local installers, contractors, architects, interior designers, property developers and other professionals in the construction industry.

“Africa is a massive market, but you cannot build an African company by looking at Africa as one market. Every country is different. Our approach is to enter, learn, localise and build,” he said.