Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc says Nigeria will save about $700million of foreign exchange yearly from sugar production self-sufficiency if the government is diligent with the sugar backward integration policy.
Speaking at the company’s 15th Annual General Meeting in Lagos, the Chairman of Dangote Sugar Refinery, Aliko Dangote, stressed that the backward integration will reduce imports of raw sugar and conserve forex used for importation for other purposes.
He warned that distortions in the sugar master plan framework would be a setback for self-sufficiency in sugar production.
Dangote said, “If the National Sugar Master Plan is followed strictly and the players all follow the rules, the country will be better for it as Nigeria will save between $600m and $700m annually as forex.”
According to him, the backward integration policy of Dangote Sugar Refinery is recording significant progress as the company is irrevocably committed to the policy.
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He told shareholders that despite the disruptions in the economy occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s production volume rose by 13.7 per cent to 743,858 tonnes in the financial year ended December 31, 2020, compared to 654,071 tonnes in 2019.
He said the company posted a group turnover of N214.3billion, a 33 per cent increase over the N161.1billion in 2019, while its sales volume rose by 6.9 per cent from 684,487 tonnes in 2019 to 731,701 tonnes in 2020.
According to Dangote, the improvements are due to operations optimisation strategy despite disruption caused by civil unrest in last quarter of the year.
