Nigeria’s Dangote Group has signed a deal to commence the building of integrated sugar plants in six states in Nigeria.
The Chairman of the group, who is also Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, made the announcement at a forum in Lagos to honour major distributors of Dangote Foods in Lagos on Thursday.
He said that 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 the plants 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 stated.
Dangote said 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 re-stated that the group had earmarked 12 billion dollars 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 dollars in 2017, expressing the determination of the group to exploit the huge business potential in Nigeria.
He commended the award recipients, saying that the event was a moment to appreciate customers’ efforts in making Dangote food products a household name in Nigeria.
Dangote said that 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.
He said that the target of the group was to ensure that Nigeria became self-sufficient in food.
According to him, the group focuses on a three-point agenda of sustaining high product quality, improving customers’ engagement and strengthening supply chain capabilities.
A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent at the event reports that a distributor from the North West, Alhaji Ali Balarabe, emerged overall winner in the sale of Dangote products.
Awards were presented in various categories to recipients from first to third positions in the sale of flour, sugar, salt, pasta and Dan-Q.
The award category was given to the Best Performing Customer in the South West, North West, North Central, North East, South West, South East, North West and Lagos.
No fewer than 30 people won awards in various categories. (NAN)