Economy
Dangote to Meet 50% of Market Demand for Refined Sugar
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
In the next four years, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc intends to meet 50 per cent of the current local market demand for refined sugar with the production of 700,000 metric tonnes.
At the company’s 18th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on Tuesday in Lagos, the chairman of Dangote Sugar, Mr Aliko Dangote, said this goal would be achieved from locally grown sugarcane through its Backward Integration Programme (BIP).
He further stated that the sugar 10-year sugar development plan to produce 1.5 million MT of sugar per annum from locally grown sugarcane remains a germane roadmap to the attainment of the firm’s objectives, which he said align with the federal government’s policy guidelines.
“Our focus is on achieving the revised targets set for DSR Numan Operations, Dangote Adamawa Sugar Limited, and Nasarawa Sugar Company Limited, while we are hopeful that the Taraba State Government will resolve the community payment issues that have led to the stoppage of activities at the Dangote Taraba Sugar Limited, Lau/Tau project,” he said.
The businessman noted that in the 2023 financial year, the organisation, despite the challenges we were faced with, significantly scaled up investment in the BIPs with the ongoing expansion of the DSR Numan factory refining capacity from 3,000TCD to 9,800TCD year-end.
“The factory will be increased with an additional 5,200TCD to 15,000 TCD (tonnes of cane crushed per day) eventually to meet the need given the massive land development activities also going on at the site. The aim is to achieve 24,200 hectares in total by the year 2029,” Mr Dangote stated.
He also emphasised that despite the adverse impact on the business environment by the continuous increase in the inflationary trend, lack of liquidity and FX to fund the company’s equipment import among others for the backward integration projects, concerted efforts are ongoing to secure the needed funds for the development of the Nasarawa Sugar Company Limited project at Tunga in Awe Local Government Area of the state.
“This will enable the company to put in place the needed infrastructure for the eventual commencement of full-scale production and ensure that the Dangote Sugar Backward Integration ‘Sugar for Nigeria Project’ is achieved. In the end, over $700 million investment would be committed to the Backward Integration Programme,” he added.
On outlook, he stated that “achievement of the goals of the Sugar Backward Integration Master Plan remains our focus.”
“This will go a long way in delivering the anticipated benefits, especially in FX savings and cushioning its impact on our operations amongst other benefits to the company, all stakeholders, and the nation,” he emphasised.
On his part, the chief executive of Dangote Sugar, Mr Ravindra Singhvi, said, “Despite these challenges, we are resolute and focused on the delivery of our business targets in the medium to long term.”
“As we continue to navigate through the scarcity and high cost of foreign exchange, escalating costs of raw materials amongst others, our focus is to enhance the effectiveness of our supply chain processes, optimise cost, improve our operational efficiencies and delivery on our Sugar for Nigeria backward integration project,” he stated.
Mr Singhvi said, “The target is to produce a minimum of 1.5MT refined sugar annually from locally produced sugarcane at our integrated sugar production estates, which is expected to alleviate some pressure on costs and our demand for foreign currency.
“Achievement of a sustainable business remains one of our key strategies and concerted efforts were made towards sustaining the achievements we have recorded in the past,”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Emerald Holdco has been authorised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to proceed with its mandatory takeover offer (MTO) of shares of Beta Glass Plc worth N6.94 billion held by minority investors.
In a notice to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, it was disclosed that the MTO involves 11,741,509 ordinary shares of Beta Glass at a unit price of N590.94.
Shareholders of the company are required to fill out the MTO form for the exercise, which opened on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, and is expected to close at 5:00 pm on Tuesday, August 4, 2026.
Business Post reports that Emerald Holdco recently completed the acquisition of 100 per cent of the shares of Emerald Nigeria Intermediate Holdings B.V. (formerly Frigoinvest Nigeria Holding B.V), which owns 76.03 per cent of Packaging Industries Nigeria Limited (formerly Frigoglass Industries (Nigeria) Limited) from the Frigoglass Group.
As part of this transaction, Emerald Holdco has assumed indirect ownership of 331,260,999 ordinary shares in the company, previously held by Frigoglass Group, which represent approximately 55.22 per cent of the issued share capital of the organisation.
In accordance with the Nigerian Takeover Rules, Emerald Holdco is required to make a takeover offer to all other shareholders of Beta Glass. It is permitted to make an offer for all or a portion of the shares held by the other shareholders of the firm.
Following this requirement, Emerald Holdco sought and obtained approval from its board and shareholders to launch a takeover offer to all qualifying shareholders for the acquisition of up to 11,741,509 ordinary shares, representing 1.96 per cent of the total issued and fully paid-up share capital of Beta Glass.
The board and shareholders granted this approval on February 5, 2026, and March 3, 2026, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
A plunge in the share price of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc purged the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 6.11 per cent on Tuesday, July 7.
The milk producer, famed for brands like Peak Milk and Three Crowns, was the sole price loser during the session, shedding N12.41 to end at N139.41 per unit compared with the previous day’s N151.82 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation of the alternative stock market went down by N155.40 billion to close at N2.387 trillion, in contrast to Monday’s closing value of N2.543 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) fell by 258.90 points to close at 3,978.07 points compared with the preceding session’s 4,236.97 points.
Business Post reports that NASD Plc was the only price gainer for the day, gaining 80 Kobo to close at N34.10 per share versus N33.30 per share.
Yesterday, the value of securities surged by 98.3 per cent to N15.9 million from the preceding session’s N2.8 million, the volume of securities increased by 183.6 per cent to 323,780 units from 114.175 million units, and the number of deals grew by 61.1 per cent to 29 deals from 18 deals.
At the close of business, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded security by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 70.7 million units exchanged for N4.9 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira weakened by N7.48 or 0.55 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, July 7, to N1,375.75/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s N1,368.27/$1.
Equally, the local currency fell against the Pound Sterling in the same official FX market yesterday by N14.66 to trade at N1,841.57/£1 versus Monday’s closing price of N1,826.91/£1, and against the Euro, it depreciated by N10.61 to close at N1,573.30/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,562.69/€1.
In the parallel market, the Nigerian currency lost N5 against the US Dollar during the trading day to settle at N1,395/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,390/$1, and at the GTBank forex desk, it remained unchanged at N1,831/$1.
Liquidity fluctuations amidst sustained FX inflows from foreign portfolio investors, exporters, non-bank corporates and other sources weakened the Naira despite rising external reserves. Updated data showed that gross external reserves increased to $ 51.525 billion from $51.549 billion.
Daily interbank FX turnover stood at $54.180 million across 70 deals, from $70.430 million.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) signalled its intention in the first half of the year to slow the Naira rally and avoid capital flight by purchasing US Dollars from the market.
As for the cryptocurrency market, benchmarked tokens dipped following renewed strikes on Iran by the US after an attack on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The US Central Command forces said it began launching a series of powerful strikes against Iran to impose high costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway.
The latest exchange of fire will test the fragile ceasefire as Iran struck back by targeting US bases in Bahrain and Kuwait. The renewed attacks in the Middle East have doused the flames of the recent rally, with markets losing $50 billion over the past 12 hours.
Cardano (ADA) fell by 5.8 per cent to $0.1695, Solana (SOL) dropped 3.4 per cent to sell at $78.24, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 3.3 per cent to $1.08, Dogecoin (DOGE) declined by 3.2 per cent to $0.0724, and Binance Coin (BNB) slid by 1.9 per cent to $567.58.
Further, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 1.1 per cent to $1,751.40, Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.8 per cent to quote at $62,538.88, and TRON (TRX) decreased by 0.4 per cent to $0.3289, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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