BUA, one of Nigeria’s leading indigenous conglomerates, is launching a backward integration scheme in its sugar subsidiary plantation in Kogi S tate before the end of the year.

Group Executive Director of BUA Group, Kabiru Rabiu said Cultivation on the land will commence in the last quarter of the year. The plantation will assist in boosting the sugar production of the Group and enhance employment, and open up opportunities for ancillary industries.

According to him, the plantation is structured to generate its own power during the process of converting molasses to sugar, while provision has also been made for gas supply to fire its turbines.

BUA owns the second largest sugar refinery in Sub-Saharan Africa, located in Lagos Nigeria with an installed capacity of 720,000 metric tons per annum and is set to commission a second sugar refinery with the same capacity in Ports Harcourt, Rivers State next year. The company also acquired Lafiagi Sugar Company (Lasuco), Kwara State through a privatisation exercise in 2010.

Recently the Governor of Kogi state Capt. Idris Wada confirmed the allocation of land to BUA for the setting up the proposed plantation.

Rabiu sais: “We are pleased with the support of Governor Idris Wada by assisting us toward setting up a sugar plantation in Kogi state. We promise to support the government and people of the state, and be a loyal and productive corporate citizen.

“The plantation will be a modern state of the art automated plant with the technology deployed from Brazil, widely known as having the best technology in sugar production and refinery”.