The Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, has tasked the management of the Dangote Group of Companies on the need to expand the annual production capacity of its subsidiary, the Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR), to 600,000 metric tonnes by the year 2030.

The Minister, accompanied by the Executive Secretary of the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Mr. Kamar Bakrin, gave the charge when he visited the DSR Complex in Numan, Adamawa state, a statement has said.

The visit was part of the ongoing strategic inspection of sugar projects across the country in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive to concerned officials for the acceleration of Nigeria’s attainment of self-sufficiency in sugar production.

The Minister noted that the current local sugar production is a far cry from the 1.8m metric tonnes that the country consumes annually, adding that as a leader in the sector, the DSR must contribute at least 600,000 metric tonnes in the year 2030 and sustain it.

“DSR is a very big player in the industry, one of the three major operators. Our circumstances in this sector will continue to depend on what DSR does. It is very important. I mean since coming to this ministry, I found the NSDC Executive Secretary to be hardworking and passionate about sugar sector development. I have seen the commitment he has demonstrated. But that is the much he can give, he needs to get the cooperation of everyone to make sure that we achieve the laudable goals of the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP).

“I have lost count of the number of times Mr. President has talked about developments in the sugar industry in Federal Executive Council (FEC) meetings and other sessions,” he said, adding that the 600,000 MT target must be delivered by DSR before 2031.

Also speaking, the Vice President of the Dangote Group, Mr. Olakunle Alake, assured the Minister of the company’s renewed commitment to invest more resources and scale up its production capacity, promising that the 600,000 MT target will be met in the year 2030.

During the visit, the Minister and the NSDC boss inspected the new 6000TCD factory expansion site, the harvest fields, haulage and new field development. They also saw the mills, boilers, turbine evaporators and experienced bagging of sugar at the warehouse.