Flour Mills of Nigeria says its acquisition of majority stake in Honeywell not in breach of any court order
Flour Mills announces plans to invest N70bn in Sunti Sugar Estate
Flour Mills Nigeria Plc has announced plan to invest N70 billion over the next three years to develop the upland area of the Sunti Sugar Estate in Niger state, an announcement which may have been prompted by the on-going sugar war in the country.
The company made this known via their Twitter handle on Monday, earlier in the week.
Sunti Golden Sugar Estates (SGSE) Ltd., a subsidiary of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc., with 17, 000 hectares of irrigable farmland and a capacity to process 4,500 metric tons of sugarcane per day can produce 1 million tons of Sugarcane which translates into 100,000 metric tons of sugar yearly.
According to the company, this is in line with its commitment to supporting the development of the Sugar value chain in the country.
According to the company’s tweet, “In line with our commitment to supporting the development of the Sugar value chain, FMN will invest an additional 70 billion Naira over the next three years to develop the upland area of the Sunti Sugar Estate in Niger state.”
The Federal Government of Nigeria under the National Sugar Development Council established the Nigerian Sugar Master Plan to encourage and incentivize sugar refining companies in their Backward Integration Program (BIP) for local sugar production.
Accordingly, the underlisted three companies, who have made reasonable progress in achieving backward integration in the sector shall only be allowed to import sugar into the country: :
1. BUA Sugar Refinery Limited
2. Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc
3. Golden Sugar Company
In view of the forgoing, Authorised Dealers shall NOT open Forms M or access foreign exchange in the Nigerian foreign exchange market for any company including the three listed above for the importation of sugar without the prior and express approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria as the Bank is charged with the mandate of monitoring the implementation of the backward integration programs of all the companies.
Recall that Africa’s richest man and Chairman of Dangote Industries Limited, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and the Chairman of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, Mr. John Coumantaros, have said the establishment of a new sugar refinery plant in the country by BUA Group posed a threat to the attainment of the National Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) as well as sustainability of Nigeria’s local sugar industry.
They argued that the country currently has enough refining capacity to meet national demand.
In a joint petition to the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Chief Niyi Adebayo, dated January 28, 2021, the duo protested the recent commissioning of a sugar refinery in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, by BUA International, one of the operators in the sugar industry.
