FG Tasks Flour Mills to Hit 300,000MT Sugar Output by 2030

Sunday Ehigiator

The federal government has directed Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc to scale up sugar production through its subsidiary, Golden Sugar Company, to 300,000 metric tonnes annually by 2030 as part of efforts to close Nigeria’s widening supply gap.

The Minister of State for Industry, John Owan Enoh, gave the directive during a visit to the company’s facility in Sunti, Niger State, alongside the Executive Secretary of the National Sugar Development Council, Mr. Kamar Bakrin.

Enoh said Nigeria’s local sugar production remains far below its annual consumption of about 1.8 million metric tonnes, stressing that the Sunti-based operation must play a key role in bridging the deficit.

“It is a reflection of the implementation of the government’s Backward Integration Programme. It also demonstrates that there is a business going on; there is an industry with all the elements that you can think about. People are gainfully employed. At its peak, I understand this facility has about 4,500 workers. So, government’s requirement for gainful employment is itself achieved here.

“I have never stopped getting amazed at what production can be. From the farm, you get to the factory and find sugar produced. This itself begins to demonstrate the ability of the country, of these business people, and of the industry to achieve set targets. While we can praise this to be an implementation of the BIP, it still falls quite short in terms of what expectations are of that policy. But I am glad that there is an ambition that by 2030 the annual output is going to increase to 300,000 metric tonnes,” he said.

He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to industrialisation, noting that policy support and incentives would continue to be provided to operators in the sector.

“We are not there yet, but there is commitment; there is push, and the government itself is serious about industrialisation,” he added.

Also speaking, Bakrin acknowledged the progress made by the company but emphasised the need for sustained performance and accountability to meet national targets.

“Without a doubt, we consistently acknowledge the very impressive strides that they make. We appreciate the commitment, the creativity they bring to developing projects. At the same time, we are relentless in pointing out numerous opportunities for improvement because we have a very significant journey ahead of us. It’s not going to be achieved by us passing the buck constantly, but by holding each other accountable for delivering results,” he said.