Dangote to build sugar plants in six states, targets N100,000 jobs

Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Group, says there are plans to commence the building of integrated sugar plants in six states in Nigeria.

He made the announcement at a forum in Lagos to honour major distributors of Dangote Foods.

He said the plants, expected to generate up to 100,000 jobs, would be built in Adamawa, Taraba, Nasarawa, Kwara, Kogi and Niger.

He, however, did not state the cost implication of building them or the name of the company handling the projects.

“We are acquiring about 150,000 hectares for sugar plantations in Adamawa, Taraba, Nasarawa, Kwara, Kogi and Niger. We have designed a memorandum of understanding with the Nasarawa State Government for the construction of the sugar complex at Tunga,” he said.

Dangote added that the company’s push for backward integration in providing raw materials on a large scale would result to a cumulative investment of 4.6 billion dollars in the next three years in sugar, rice and diary production.

According to him, the plants will help to eliminate Nigeria’s reliance on imported materials and also help to save foreign exchange.

He said his company had earmarked $12 billion for the building of a refinery at Ibeju-Lekki, near Lagos, to resolve Nigeria’s persistent petroleum scarcity crisis.

The mogul disclosed that the company’s annual revenue exceeded $4.1 billion in 2017, expressing the determination of the group to exploit the huge business potential in Nigeria.

He commended the award recipients, saying the event was a moment to appreciate customers’ efforts in making Dangote food products a household name in Nigeria.

Dangote said the group would sustain its leading position in the food sector, noting that Dangote Flour Mills, Dangote Sugar Refinery and NASCON Allied Industries had remained pacesetters.