Dangote Group Invests $4.6b In Agricultural Sector To Tackle Importation

Pan-African conglomerate, Dangote Group has expressed plan to invest $300 million (N50 billion) in rice production, $2.3 billion in agriculture and $2 billion in sugar production to help Nigeria attain its target of self sufficiency and also put an end to dependence on importation by 2015.

The Group in a statement said it is investing heavily in the country’s agricultural sector principally because it is motivated by the desire to create jobs, empower Nigerians, and also as a result of a friendlier agricultural policy of the federal government.

The company’s foray into agricultural sector also includes investing in fertilizer plant that will help to boost agriculture.

Reputed to be the single largest private sector employer of labour in Nigeria, President of the Group, Aliko Dangote said the planned investment will create additional 180,000 jobs to the economy.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos Switzerland on the group’s agricultural investment plan, Dangote said :“If I dreamt five years ago that I would invest in agriculture, I will write it off as bad dream or nightmare, but today, we’re investing $2.3 billion in Agriculture, $2 billion in sugar, and $300 million in rice.”

“In Nigeria, we have one of the most attractive investment policies through the framework that government has put in place to help businesses succeed,” he explained.

Dangote group is known for its business in household consumables like sugar, salt, pasta, flour etc as well as cement.

The company’s venture into Nigeria agricultural sector is expected to make Nigeria self-sufficient in food production just like it achieved with the production of cement in which it established three plants across the nation.

The plants are located at Obajana, Gboko and Ibese, and so far they have helped Nigeria achieved self-sufficiency in cement. Last year, the company was regarded as the highest cement producer in Africa.

On its sugar investment, the group through its subsidiary, Dangote Sugar is investing massively in sugar cultivation to meet the target of producing one million tons of white sugar by 2015 as part of the nation’s sugar master plan.

The company is already cultivating 100,000 hectares in about six states (Sokoto, Kebbi, Jigawa, Taraba, Kogi and Kwara State) of the country.