SAVANNAH Sugar Company (SSC), a subsidiary of Dangote Industries Limited has unveiled its plans to produce one million tonnes of sugar yearly by 2013, as part of its efforts to meet local sufficiency of sugar production in Nigeria.

President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, disclosed this in a ceremony to mark the launch of the harvest season of the sugar plantation in Numan, Adamawa State recently.

According to him, the N35 billion sugar company is expected to produce 250,000 metric tonnes of sugar per annum in the next three years.

He remarked that in the next few years, SSC will be producing 100 million litres of ethanol and 100, 000 metric tons of bio fertilizer from compost, which are important by-products from sugar cane.

He added that the company has the potential of producing 300 megawatts of green electricity, enough to power the whole of North Eastern Nigeria.

To accomplish all these, Dangote said the group plans to take sugar cane production level to one million metric tonnes per annum, by investing in more hectares of sugar plantation made up of 36, 000 hectares in Lau, Taraba State; 25, 000 hectares in Galala, Bauchi State; and 20, 000 hectares in Hadejia, Jigawa State.

He disclosed that Savannah Sugar has become second employer of labour after government. "It is expected that when the production target reaches one million tonnes of sugar yearly, the company will increase its staff strength from the current 5,000 to 25,000. At the moment, the company is the second largest employer of labour in the state, second after the state government", he added.

He noted that since taking over the SSC in 2003, Dangote Industries has invested over N12 billion in areas like seedlings, heavy machinery, chemicals, staff emoluments, and turned around the company hitting current production of 50,000 tonnes of sugar yearly.

"Presently, SSC is the only sugar company that maintains a sugar cane plantation without importing any major raw materials. It generates its own power, it plants its own sugar cane, uses its own water, and with about 5,000 workers that ensure 24 hours operation every day. We estimate that we will be employing between 10, 000 to 25, 000 people to meet up with the 250, 000 tonnes mark", Dangote said.

Speaking on the companies corporate social responsibility programme in Numan and its environ, he informed that the company has constructed a 16km canal at the cost of N500 million to ensure all year cultivation of the plantation in a bid to boost its sugar cane production.

Speaking further he said: "We salute this government's unequivocal prioritisation of the agricultural sector with policies that are succeeding in attracting investments like ours back into this sector which was once the mainstay of our nation's economy. Similarly, government has been successful in attracting investments into the manufacturing sector especially in areas like cement where we as a nation have comparative advantage and the potential of self-sufficiency. With the on-going new capacity and expansion projects by local cement manufacturers, we expect to achieve self-sufficiency in cement production by the year 2011".

Source: Guardian