TheCable

Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Sugar Refinery, says Nigeria will save up to $700 million annually if stakeholders comply with the national sugar master plan (NSMP).

In 2008, the national sugar development council (NSDC) developed the NSMP to boost the country’s self-sufficiency in sugar production.

Sugar data from the NSDC for 2019 put Nigeria’s consumption at 1.4 million tonnes, production at 38,597 tonnes, while the country imported 1.36 million tonnes during the period.

A major component of the NSMP is the backward integration programme (BIP) undertaken by the trio of Dangote Sugar Refinery, BUA Sugar Refinery and Flour Mills’ Golden Sugar.

Speaking at the company’s 15th annual general meeting in Lagos, Dangote said a distortion in the sugar master plan framework would affect the target of self-sufficiency in sugar production.

He said the BIP would reduce importation of raw materials and save the country’s foreign exchange.

“If the National Sugar Master Plan is followed strictly and the players all follow the rules, the country will be better for it as Nigeria will save between $600 million and $700 million annually as forex,” he said.

Dangote noted that despite the impact of COVID-19, the company’s production volume increased by 13.7 per cent to 743,858 tonnes in 2020.

He said the figure is higher when compared to 654,071 tonnes recorded in 2019.

The company’s chairman added that Dangote Sugar Refinery posted a group turnover of N214.3 billion, a 33 per cent increase over the N161.1 billion in 2019.

He said the company’s sales volume rose by 6.9 per cent from 684,487 tonnes in 2019 to 731,701 tonnes in 2020.

“Our growth continued to benefit from the sustained efforts to drive customer base expansion and several trade initiatives and investments,” he said.

In his remarks, Ravindra Singhvi, the group managing director/chief executive officer, said the company is working towards becoming a global force in sugar production.

Singhvi said the company recorded a revenue increase of N214.30 billion in 2020.

“Our backward integration goal is to become a global force in sugar production, by producing 1.5M MT/PA of refined sugar from locally grown sugar cane for the domestic and export markets,” he said.

“Our focus on the implementation of our key strategies in the face of the several challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the peculiarities of the Apapa traffic situation, among others, we achieved a topline growth in revenue of N214.30bn, a 33 per cent increase over 2019; a 53 per cent year-on-year increase in PBT, and 33.2 per cent increase in PAT.”