*Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Sugar Plc, projects the 700,000 metric tonnes will meet 50 percent of the current market demand for refined sugar in Nigeria, as the company’s Q1 2024 revenue increases by 20.1 percent to N122.7billion

Isola Moses | 绿帽献妻

Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR) Plc has unveiled plans to produce 700,000 metric tonnes (MT) of refined sugar from locally grown sugarcane through its Backward Integration Programme (BIP) in the next four years.

Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, disclosed this at the company’s 18th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held Monday, April 29, 2024, in Lagos.

The company also noted the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) released the company鈥檚 results for first quarter (Q1) 2024, indicating an increase of 20.1 percent in its revenue to N122.7 billion.

Dangote, at the AGM, said in alignment with the Federal Government of Nigeria’s policy guidelines, DSR continues to focus on and enhance its Backward Integration Project (BIP) by deploying and reviewing project strategies to ensure efficient delivery.

The President of Dangote Group also projected that the 700,000 metric tonnes would meet 50 percent of the current market demand for refined sugar. The 10-year sugar development plan to produce 1.5 million MT of sugar per annum from locally grown sugarcane remains a germane roadmap to the attainment of the Company鈥檚 objectives, he stated.

Dangote further said: “Our focus is on achieving the revised targets set for DSR Numan Operations, Dangote Adamawa Sugar Limited, and Nasarawa Sugar Company Limited, while we are hopeful that the Taraba State Government will resolve the community payment issues that have led to the stoppage of activities at the Dangote Taraba Sugar Limited, Lau/Tau project.鈥�

He disclosed during the year under review, “despite the challenges, we were faced with, the company significantly scaled up investment in the Backward Integration Projects with the ongoing expansion of the DSR Numan factory refining capacity from 3,000TCD to 9,800TCD year-end.

The Chairman of Dangote Sugar Plc stated: “The factory will be increased with an additional 5,200TCD to 15,000 TCD (tonnes of cane crushed per day) eventually to meet the need in view of the massive land development activities also going on at the site. The aim is to achieve 24,200 hectares in total by the year 2029.鈥�

Dangote emphasised that despite the adverse impact on the business environment by the continuous increase in the inflationary trend, lack of liquidity and Forex to fund the company’s equipment import among others for the backward integration projects, concerted efforts are ongoing to secure the needed funds for the development of the Nasarawa Sugar Company Limited project at Tunga, in Awe Local Government Area of the state.

鈥淭his will enable the company to put in place the needed infrastructure for the eventual commencement of full-scale production and ensure that the Dangote Sugar Backward Integration ‘Sugar for Nigeria Project’ is achieved.

“In the end, over $700 million investment would be committed to the Backward Integration Programme,鈥� he explained.

On Dangote Sugar (Ghana) Limited

Dangote said the Dangote Sugar (Ghana) Limited was established as a subsidiary of the Company during the year under review, in line with the plan to expand its presence in the sugar industry across the African continent.

He noted that on outlook, the 鈥渁chievement of the goals of the Sugar Backward Integration Master Plan remains our focus.

“This will go a long way in delivering the anticipated benefits, especially in FX savings and cushioning its impact on our operations amongst other benefits to the company, all stakeholders, and the nation.”

In his remarks at the AGM,聽 Ravindra Singhvi, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dangote Sugar, said, 鈥淒espite these challenges, we are resolute and focused on the delivery of our business targets in the medium to long term.鈥�

Singhvi stated 鈥渁s we continue to navigate through the scarcity and high cost of foreign exchange, escalating costs of raw materials amongst others, our focus is to enhance the effectiveness of our supply chain processes, optimise cost, improve our operational efficiencies and delivery on our Sugar for Nigeria backward integration project.鈥�

He also noted 鈥渢he target is to produce a minimum of 1.5MT refined sugar annually from locally produced sugarcane at our integrated sugar production estates, which is expected to alleviate some pressure on costs and our demand for foreign currency.

鈥淎chievement of a sustainable business remains one of our key strategies and concerted efforts were made towards sustaining the achievements we have recorded in the past.”

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