TheCable

Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) has acquired an additional 5,200 hectares of land at its Sunti golden sugar estates.

The additional land acquisition brings the total size of the Sunti estates to 22,000 hectares of land.

In a joint letter to the minister of industry, trade and investment, Dangote Industries Limited and FMN had claimed that BUA’s sugar refinery poses a threat to the Nigerian local sugar industry.

They also alleged that the sugar refinery undermines the national sugar master plan (NSMP), a policy road map for sugar production.

But BUA fired back saying Dangote and John Coumantaros, chairman of FMN, are calling to question the “authority of the president’s power and the diligence of the trade ministry.

In a statement signed by Umolu Joseph, FMN’s company secretary, on Tuesday, FMN said the new acquisition reaffirms its commitment to the backward integration strategy of the Nigerian sugar master plan and the overall growth vision of the sugar industry in the country.

“This development which will immensely increase the production capacity of the sugar estate will also translate to an attendant expansion of the sugar production capacity of the mill,” FMN said.

“With this acquisition, the total land size of Sunti Golden Sugar Estates has expanded substantially to 22,000 hectares of land, with the total land area under cane now coming up to 15,000 hectares.”

It noted that akin to the first phase of the development plan of the estate, about 10 neighbouring communities who will be impacted by the additional land acquisition have fully signed up to the development plan of Sunti.

“These communities will now benefit from an additional 15 kilometres of all weather, heavy-duty road that is already under construction, expanded youth job opportunities, including the extension of our out-grower scheme that empowers farmers, and a number of other social infrastructure projects that will improve lives.

FMN said its subsidiary — Golden Sugar Company that operates the estate is expected to have over 25,000 hectares of land under cane, including proposed investments of a sugar mill in Nasarawa state.

“This will result in the production of approximately 250,000 tonnes of sugar per year, significantly increase local sugar production reduce dependence on food imports, and save foreign exchange.

“The total projected cost to achieve this bold plan is set at a minimum of about N160 billion, including the new sugar mill at Nasarawa.”

The sugar estate is located on the banks of River Niger in Mokwa, Niger state and features an irrigable farmland and a Sugar mill that processes 4,500 metric tons of sugarcane per day.