A novel actinobacterial strain, A4029T, isolated from arid soil of Abuja, Nigeria, and provisionally assigned to the genus Actinoplanes, was subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity studies showed that strain A4029T belonged to the genus Actinoplanes, being most closely related to Actinoplanes brasiliensis DSM 43805T (98.9 %) and Actinoplanes deccanensis DSM 43806T (98.0 %); similarity to other type strains of the genus Actinoplanes ranged from 96.2 to 97.9 %. Chemotaxonomic data [major menaquinone MK-9(H4); major polar lipids phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylinositol; characteristic sugars arabinose and xylose; major fatty acids iso-C15:0, anteiso-C15:0, iso-C16:0, C17:1ω9c and iso-C14:0] confirmed the affiliation of strain A4029T to the genus Actinoplanes. The results of DNA-DNA hybridizations and phylogenetic analysis, together with phenotypic and biochemical test data, allowed strain A4029T to be differentiated from strains of other Actinoplanes species. Therefore, strain A4029T represents a novel species, for which the name Actinoplanes abujensis sp. nov. is proposed, with A4029T (=DSM 45518T=NRRL B-24835T=KCTC 19984T) as the type strain.