Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) is committed to improving the economic viability of Sunti; host community to its most audacious indigenous sugar production project, over the next 10 years with a cumulative investment of N34bn.
The Sunti Golden Sugar Estate is a 17,000 hectare investment adjudged Nigeria’s most progressive backward integration effort under the Sugar Master Plan. It is also the only Greenfield investment under the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) currently producing raw sugar.
FMN’s Chairman, John Coumantaros made the announcement while hosting the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunmba Niyi Adebayor at the 150,000 metric tonnes/annum plant.
“We will be spending about N34bn over the next 10 years in support of the community and development of infrastructure in the area, so this is a huge expenditure expected to create jobs and also give the people education to make their life look good,” the Chairman said.
He added, “It is a tremendous transformational move as we will be having about 10,000 employees for the factory and another 50,000 of indirect jobs around the area.”
President Muhammadu Buhari pointed out these developmental strides when he commissioned the Golden Sugar Estate in 2018; ” Other than the development of local content, an investment of this size in the sugar value chain will not only help to stem the tide of importation of sugar and save foreign exchange, but enhance rural industrialization and create wealth amidst rural poverty. For this, I must commend the Flour Mills of Nigeria.”
One of the benefits of this long term N34bn investment is to open up the banks of the River Niger and its tributaries to other economic activities according to the request of Mr President in 2018.
“And when we take into cognizance the tributaries of the river and the proximity to the Kainji dam and the ecosystem, it is time we explore how this massive body of resources can be converted to a hub for industry and commerce. To that end, I call on other investors to take a cue from what we are witnessing today and come and invest heavily in this area,” said the President.
The Honorable Minister who was on a routine peer-reviewed tour across the sugar industry showed his satisfaction with the level of work going on at the Sunti Golden Sugar Estate. He tweeted “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.”
The Minister while reacting to FMN’s commitment to invest N34Bn in developing Sunti and surrounding concluded, “Efforts like this will go a long way in reducing the level of unemployment.”
Source: feedingthenationeveryday
