Aliko Dangote, the president of the Dangote Group, has repeated the company’s pledge to stop importing raw sugar into Nigeria by investing more than $700 million in sugar production.
Speaking on Wednesday at the 14th Gateway International Trade Fair in Abeokuta, Ogun State, during the “Dangote Special Day,” Dangote stated that the company is speeding up its Sugar Backward Integration Plan in order to increase domestic production.
“We are actively executing the Sugar Backward Integration strategy and have committed over $700 million to land acquisition, machinery, infrastructure, manpower, community relations, and corporate social responsibility initiatives to ensure Nigeria ends raw sugar importation,” he stated, speaking on behalf of Tunde Mabogunje, Regional Director, Lagos/Ogun Dangote Cement.
Dangote also revealed that the company has started exporting fertilizer to a number of African countries, including the Benin Republic, Zambia, and Cameroon, as well as to France, the United States, Mexico, Uruguay, and Argentina.
He continued by saying that the Dangote Refinery has started exporting refined petroleum products and that export finance has been made easier by its cement manufacturing projects in Nigeria and more than ten African nations.
“We will keep looking into manufacturing opportunities to replace imports, create jobs, and support economic growth as a conglomerate driving Nigeria’s economic diversification,” he said.
Dangote expressed hope that the trade show will increase consumer knowledge of the company’s goods, broaden its customer base, and support economic growth and job creation.
“We are certain that this long-standing collaboration with OGUNCCIMA will not only help our companies but also advance the wider economic development of Nigeria and Africa,” he continued.
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Oludaisi Elemide, Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, praised Dangote Group for its numerous economic interventions and called on the business to step up its environmental sustainability initiatives.
