The Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, has tasked the management of the Dangote Group of Companies to expand the annual production capacity of its subsidiary, the Dangote Sugar Refinery, to 600,000 metric tonnes by the year 2030.

The Minister, accompanied by Kamar Bakrin, Executive Secretary of the National Sugar Development Council, gave the charge when he visited the Dangote Sugar Refinery complex in Numan, Adamawa state.

The visit formed part of the ongoing strategic inspection of sugar projects across the country, in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive to concerned officials for the acceleration of Nigeria’s attainment of self-sufficiency in sugar production. During the tour, the Minister and the NSDC boss inspected the new 6000TCD factory expansion site, the harvest fields, haulage and new field development. They also toured the mills, boilers, turbine evaporators and witnessed the bagging of sugar at the warehouse.

The Minister noted that the current local sugar production is a far cry from the 1.8 million metric tonnes that the country consumes annually. He added that as a leader in the sector, the Dangote Sugar Refinery must contribute at least 600,000 metric tonnes (MT) in the year 2030 and sustain it.

“DSR is a vey big player in the industry, one of the three major operators. Our circumstances in this sector will continue to depend on what DSR does. It is very important. I mean since coming to this ministry, I found the NSDC Executive Secretary to be hardworking and passionate about sugar sector development. I have seen the commitment he has demonstrated. But that is the much he can give, he needs to get the cooperation of everyone to make sure that we achieve the laudable goals of the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP).

“I have lost count of the number of times Mr. President has talked about developments in the sugar industry in Federal Executive Council (FEC) meetings and other sessions,” he said, adding that the 600,000 MT target must be delivered by DSR before 2031.

While commending the NSDC for the great job it has done in motivating and monitoring the operators, the Minister noted that the scale of infrastructure, level of investment, and degree of project advancement – especially at the new 6000 TCD plant – observed at DSR reflect a tangible commitment to the objectives of the Backward Integration Programme (BIP). He equally commended the DSR team for the commitment to improving recent performances, adding that the federal government is willing to work with them to eradicate all obstacles to increased local sugar production in the country.

“I am indeed very happy with what I have seen today but scaling up production to be able to meet Mr. President’s expectations is very important. My final comment would be to encourage you, just to let you know that my visit here is to show government’s continuous seriousness and how important government looks at our ability as a country to be self-sufficient in sugar production,” the Minister said.

Fielding questions from journalists on the sidelines of the visit, the Minister continued: “The DSR is not new to government’s Backward Programme (BIP). I can appreciate the entire ecosystem, the community of people, people all work in here, people gainfully employed, there is value addition in terms of harvested cane being processed to refine sugar.

“So, the programme is on course, you know, the only thing is that it needs to be accelerated much more. The NSMP is in its 12th or 13th year. It has expectations and projections in terms of what is supposed to be achieved for a country whose sugar consumption yearly is about 1.8 million metric tonnes. And the fact that Dangote Sugar is at the top among the major operators, so much more is expected from it.

“I mean, there is a commitment on the part of Dangote Sugar to be able to increase its annual production to about 600,000 metric tonnes by 2030 and government is available and ready to work with them in terms of what needs to be done to push them over the line.

“We are aware that there are issues that remain nagging and one of those issues has to do with affordable long term finance, what is called patient capital. We are looking to what extent government can get involved to assist and enable them raise the required capital.”

Olakunle Alake, vice president of the Dangote Group, assured the Minister of the company’s renewed commitment to invest more resources and scale up its production capacity, promising that the 600,000 MT target will be met in the year 2030.