Nigeria pushes faster sugarcane expansion to boost local sugar output
Nigeria’s minister urged rapid sugarcane expansion to achieve self-sufficiency and utilise factory capacity. Visiting LASUCO in Kwara State, he praised progress under the Backward Integration Programme. The 10,000-tonne-per-day project will include a major mill, ethanol plant and irrigated farms, targeting 220,000 tonnes of refined sugar annually for national economic growth.
Abuja: Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, has said there is an urgent need to speed up sugarcane development in Nigeria to achieve self-sufficiency in sugar production and fully utilise existing factory capacity, reports This Day.
He said expanding farms was essential for sugar factories to operate at full capacity. The minister made the remarks during an extensive visit to the Lafiagi Sugar Company (LASUCO) in Kwara State.
Enoh toured the facility along with the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive of the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Kamar Bakrin. The visit followed a directive from President Bola Tinubu to fast-track Nigeria’s drive towards self-sufficiency in sugar production.
The minister praised Bakrin for his efforts in encouraging and overseeing operators under the Backward Integration Programme. He said the scale of infrastructure, level of investment and progress seen at LASUCO showed clear commitment to the programme’s goals.
He added that the President had directed him to work closely with the NSDC leadership to ensure that sugar operators move beyond planning and begin full-scale production.
Enoh also restated the federal government’s commitment to working with serious investors, traditional leaders and host communities to revive the sugar industry, save foreign exchange, generate jobs and strengthen industrial value chains.
During the visit, the minister inspected LASUCO’s integrated sugar complex, including the sugar mill, ethanol plant, power facilities, irrigation systems and more than 700 hectares of existing sugarcane fields.
The LASUCO project, owned by the BUA Group, is planned as a 10,000-tonne-per-day sugar mill. Once fully operational, it is expected to produce up to 220,000 metric tonnes of refined sugar each year.
According to a statement from the sugar council, the minister will continue similar inspections of sugar projects across the country in the coming days.
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Source : Chinimandi
