27 May 2014 He has conquered cement and now, Africa’s richest man is turning his attention to sugar. Alhaji Aliko Dangote announced recently, that his Sugar refinery is projected to produce about 2 million tonnes of sugar per annum from locally grown sugar cane within the next 10 years. He stated that the plan was to consolidate the company’s position as the largest sugar producer in West Africa.
Fast on his way to making this happen, the mogul has acquired a sugar factory in Jigawa state and will invest over 250 million dollars in the factory with production expected to start in September 2014. 20,000 hectares of land have also been purchased, with growth capacity of 150,000 metric tonnes of sugarcane each year.
The company plans to employ 23,000 indigenes of the state; 10,000 of that number will be farmers that will engaged in the farming of sugarcane. Alhaji Dangote added that the waste and by products from the sugarcane will be used to produce ethanol which can be used for vehicles, fertilizers and animal feed, creating economic activities for the people of the area.
He emphasized that the company would pay compensation for the land to be used for sugarcane and that most of the farmers would be among the 10,000 who would be engaged as farmers.