THISDAY

Dangote Sugar to Invest N106 Billion on Expansion in Six Years

- Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie

Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR) Plc plans to invest N106 billion in the expansion of operations in the next six years and as it targets to produce 1.5 million tonnes of refined sugar from locally grown sugarcane during that period.

The acting Managing Director of DSR, Abdullahi Sule stated this yesterday at the company’s fact behind the figures, adding the company is projecting to produce 130 million liters of ethanol potential across all its sites.

“We are going to spend about N106 billion to expand its operation during the preview period of which 20 per cent of the fund will come from equity. The board of directors will decide the direction of the 20 per cent,” he said.

He, however, promised that the company will continue to pay dividend which it has remained consistent since inception. “We are confident that this ambitious goal is achievable and will leave no stone unturned in seeing that it becomes a reality,” he added.

He noted that during the year under review, the company continued its journey towards the actualisat­ion of its backward integratio­n project (BIP) targets, which according to him has been challengin­g.

“To date about N101 billion has been committed towards the actualisat­ion of these projection equipment purchase, land studies and survey, sensitisat­ion campaign for the local communitie­s, rehabilita­tion and expansion of Savannah Sugar company. As such we further realigned the BIP strategy during the year under review and our focus is now on the full expansion of Savannah Sugar Company Limited, the Greenfield project in Nasarawa State and the Lau/Tau project in Taraba State,” he said. Sule noted that the company remained committed to delivering superior returns to its shareholde­rs, and the board recommende­d a total payout of N7.2 billion for the shareholde­rs. This, he said translates to a dividend of 60 kobo per share for every share of 50 kobo held in the company.

“Achievemen­t of our BIP plan and growing our market share remains our focus. Efforts are geared towards achievemen­ts of these through effective resource optimisati­on and cost management, drive for greater efficiency especially in supply chain, human capacity building and route to market redefiniti­on. Among others,” he said.

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