info.afrindex.com
China-Africa Trade Information Service
info.afrindex.com
China-Africa Trade Information Service
THE PRESIDENT dangote group of companies Alhaji Aliko Dangote has approved N217 billion (700 million dollars) for the take off of sugar factory in Nasarawa state.
Dangote disclosed this yesterday when he visited the state governor, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura in government house, Lafia to announce the commencement of the project in the state.
Dangote explained that the sugar factory in Nasarawa State will create over 30,000 jobs and 10,000 out growers.
According to him, the factory which will be located in Tunga, Awe local government area of the state is capable of producing 480 tons of sugar and generate 96 mega watts of electricity for the state which will attract other investors to the state.
"The production capacity of the sugar factory in Nasarawa will be the first in West Africa, no sugar factory produces more than 250 tones, so we are doing double in the state, we need about 600 trucks to distribute the sugar across the country "
He further explained that the project will transform the lives of Nasarawa people as most of them will take the advantage of the electricity to set up small scale business.
Alhaji Dangote promise to build new schools and renovate existing ones within the area and take over the payment of teachers and employ more in addition to providing pipe borne water for the development of the area.
Responding, Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura expressed satisfaction of the government and people of the state with the decision of Dangote to invest in the state promising to provide the enabling environment for him including security of lives and properties for the successful take off of the project.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, MFR, GCON (born 10 April 1957, Kano, Nigeria) is a business magnate in Nigeria who owns the Dangote Group, which has interests in commodities. The company operates in Nigeria and several other countries in Africa, including Benin, Cameroon, Togo, Ghana, South Africa and Zambia.
Dangote is ranked by Forbes Magazine as the 23rd richest person in the world and the richest man in Africa. The Dangote Group was established as a small trading firm in 1977. Today, it is a multi-trillion naira conglomerate with many of its operations in Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo. At present, Dangote has enlarged his line of businesses to also cover food processing, cement manufacturing, and freight. The Dangote Group also dominates the sugar market in Nigeria and is a major sugar supplier to the country's soft drink companies, breweries, and confectioners.
The Dangote Group has moved from being a trading company to being the largest industrial group in Nigeria and these include: Dangote Sugar Refinery, Dangote Cement, and Dangote Flour, just to mention a few. In July 2012, Dangote approached the Nigerian Ports Authority with the idea of leasing an abandoned piece of land at the Apapa Port, which was welcomed and approved. He later built facilities for his flour company there. In the 1990s he approached the Central Bank of Nigeria with the idea that it would be cheaper for the bank to allow his transport company to manage their fleet of staff buses, a proposal which was also approved. In Nigeria today, Dangote Group with its dominance in the sugar market and refinery business is the main supplier (70% of the market) to the country's soft drinks companies, breweries and confectioners.
It is the largest refinery in Africa and the third largest in the world, producing 800,000 tonnes of sugar annually. Apart from these, Dangote Group owns salt factories and flour mills and is a major importer of rice, fish, pasta, cement and fertiliser. The company exports cotton, cashew nuts, cocoa, sesame seed and ginger to several countries. It also has major investments in real estate, banking, transport, textiles and oil and gas. The company employs over 11,000 people and is the largest industrial conglomerate in the whole of West Africa.
