The Central Bank Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has said the future of Nigeria is bright with the outcome of the investment funding the apex bank is giving to companies like Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN), which is putting its new sugar mill to run by May 2016.

The apex bank governor, who said this at the inspection of the Sunti
Golden Sugar Estate factory in Mokwa Local Council Area of Niger
State at the weekend, said the plant would produce 100,000 metric tons of sugar yearly at commencement. He added that this would invariably translate to savings in foreign exchange for the country.

He disclosed that CBN would continue to support agriculture and companies that are committed to backward integration and sourcing large percentage of their raw materials locally.

Expectedly, Nigeria’s newest sugarcane mill, built by Flour Mills of
Nigeria, is set to churn out the first batch of high polarity sugar, raw material for confectionery and beverage industries.

Niger State governor, Alhj. Sani Bello, who disclosed the company has engaged about 800 direct and indirect employees from the host communities, lamented the low level of agricultural mechanisation in the country. He appealed to CBN to reduce the challenges, especially for farmers in the state.

Chairman, FMN Group, Mr. John Coumantaros noted at the pre-commissioning visit that pursuing the project is consistent with the nation’s goal of backward integration.

The N35b Sunti farm and mill will produce 100,000 metric tons of sugar at full capacity, a result of FMN’s commitment to growing its raw material locally.

According to Mr. Paul Gbededo, Group Managing Director of FMN, with full capacity production in 2018, the Sugar Estate would have provided about 15,000 jobs, including 3,500 direct labour. It is also projected that $35m (N11Bn) per year would be saved from the chunk of $450m (N144Bn) spent yearly on importation of sugar.

Gbededo said about N35billion has been invested out of the N45b needed for the completion of the project, adding that 2,000 hectares of land have been developed to provide the initial cane feedstock for the commissioning of the mill.

He revealed that the factory has an expanded capacity of 4,500tcd, which is large enough to process all of the cane produced by the farm.

Gbededo stressed that Nigeria needs more investors in industrial sugarcane production to bring the nation’s master plan to full realisation.

Source: Guardian