The Managing Director of Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR) Plc, Mr. Graham Clark, said the company will stimulate rural economy of Nigeria through its backward integration programme and create many jobs.

Speaking on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) during a bell ringing ceremony, Clark said  the company was  embarking on backward integration plan to reintroduce sugar production to Nigeria  and ultimately  to make the product  sufficient  in the market.

He said: "We will increase our capacity significantly. It enable us reach our retail market easier. We are bringing agriculture back to rural Nigeria and be the largest commercial farmers in Africa. We will bring new skills to rural Nigeria and employ many people."

Clark, who has over 30 years of experience in African sugar industry, promised to bring his experience to bear in his work and ensure that DSR delivers better returns to shareholders in the years ahead.

In line with the backward integration programme of DSR, the company recently acquired farm machinery worth $35 million from Panafrican Equipment.

According to Clark, the acquisition of the equipment was in line with the Backward Integration Policy (BIP) of the Federal Government of Nigeria and National Sugar Development Council (NSDC).

"This is yet another milestone in the Dangote Sugar journey as we work towards the achievement of our strategic sugar master plan to produce 1.5 million metric tonnes of sugar per annum, locally," he said.

Dangote Sugar is actively pursuing a backward integration master plan with a target of producing a total of 1.5 million tonnes of sugar locally, per annum. 

The subsidiary, Savannah Sugar Company Limited, Numan, Adamawa State, is geared to meet this target. Savannah Sugar is located on 32,000 hectares of land with a 50,000 MT/PA sugar production capacity. Currently, the company has 5,000 hectares on cane being harvested for sugar production. 

In addition, Dangote Sugar has commenced the acquisition of additional hectares of land across Nigeria for the project. Plans are underway for the investment of additional N180 billion towards the realisation of the Dangote Sugar Project. The plants are located in Kwara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Kogi, Jigawa, Taraba states amongst others.