Nigeria’s industrial leader Aliko Dangote has intensified his push to eliminate the country’s dependence on imported raw sugar, confirming a $700 million investment aimed at expanding domestic production. The announcement was made during a trade fair in Ogun State, as reported by Vanguard, which highlighted that the capital injection covers land acquisition, machinery, infrastructure and workforce development.
The expansion forms part of Dangote Sugar’s Backward Integration Programme, a long-term strategy designed to increase local output and stabilise supply. Daily Post reported that Dangote expects the programme to raise production sufficiently for Nigeria to meet its sugar needs entirely from domestic sources. Punch also noted that the group is positioning to significantly scale its refining capacity to close the import gap.
According to figures published in Dangote Sugar’s 2024 Annual Report, the company is targeting annual production of 700,000 tonnes through its integration efforts, a goal supported by the ongoing enlargement of plantation acreage and crushing capabilities. This operational scale-up, Vanguard previously highlighted, is central to the company’s multi-year expansion blueprint.
Industry analysts say the investment could reduce Nigeria’s foreign-exchange burden, lower import-dependency risks and strengthen long-term food and industrial supply chains as the local sugar market becomes increasingly self-sustaining.
