By Adedapo Adesanya
The sugar plan of federal government has received a huge boost following the Sunti Sugar Estates investment in Mokwa, Niger State. Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Mr Niyi Adebayo, paid a courtesy visit to the plantation on Thursday, December 12, 2019.
During the visit, the Minister expressed surprise at the level of investment at Sunti Golden Sugar Estates, describing it as the largest under the Sugar Backward Integration Policy of the federal government.
He said the plan of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration was put in place to attract over $1 billion annually in local and foreign direct investments, with estimation that it should guarantee creation of over 100,000 jobs in the next 10 years.
The Minister praised the effort of having a production target of over 1,500 tonnes by the end of 2019, further describing the Sugar Estate’s investment as laudable. He added that with the capacity, it will provide more jobs and opportunities for many Nigerians.
“I just arrived at the Sunti Golden Sugar Estates in Mokwa, Niger State, for my assessment tour of the backward integration programmes in the sugar industry.
“On my tour of the Sunti Sugar Estates, I emphasized that I am quite impressed with the level of investment and planning that has gone into this enterprise. It is my hope that this will translate into more jobs and opportunities for all Nigerians,” he said. #SeeSuntiGSE.
“During my assessment tour, I had a great time learning how to harvest sugarcane at the Sunti Golden Sugar Estates farm, the largest investment under the Sugar Backward Integration Policy, which falls under the Nigeria Sugar Masterplan,” Mr Adebayo said further.
On its part, the management of the sugar estates said that over N64 billion had been so far invested and that this has produced a number of facilities, including a landing strip, roads, schools, clinics among others.
“The Sunti Sugar Estate has 17,000 hectares of arable farmland, a sugar mill with a capacity to process 4,500 metric tonnes of sugarcane daily and at full capacity.
“As at today, 3,000ha of sugar cane has been developed and is under pivot, sprinkler and furrow irrigation,” the company said.
Business Post reports that the Sunti Golden Sugar Estates is run by Flour Mills of Nigeria, a company listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
