Dangote to invest $450m in Sugar Production in Niger State

By Laleye Dipo in Minna

Industrial giant, Dangote Group, is to invest over $450million in the agricultural sector of Niger State. The amount is for the establishment of a sugar refinery in the state.

The Managing Director of Dangote Sugar Refinery Company, Alhaji Abdullahi Sule, disclosed this   in Minna, the Niger State capital  yesterday after a meeting with governor Abubakar Sani Bello.

Sule who led a team of experts from Dangote Group to the meeting held at the Government House, Minna said the meeting was to brief the governor on the progress made so far on the proposed sugar and rice schemes to be sited in the state by the company.

He said sites for both the sugar cane plantation and the refinery have been identified while the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the state government, the community hosting the schemes and the group “is being perfected. 

“For the sugar, we have identified the site and carried out feasibility study. We have equally carried the survey of the site, did the soil  and demarcated  the land to enable us plant different crops. 

“The group will be investing $450 million on Sugar alone and this is explicitly stated in the MoU.” 

On the proposal for rice production, the Managing Director  said work was in progress, adding that the group was prepared for the scheme saying “as soon as due diligence and necessary formalities  are completed the project will take off.”

In the meantime   Bello has directed the Ministries of Agriculture, Lands and Justice to perfect the smooth take-off of the sugar refinery project without any further delay.