Nigerian billionaire and founder of Africa’s largest conglomerate, Aliko Dangote, said Nigeria could earn more than $700 million annually from the Backward Integration Plan (BIP),* if thoroughly executed.
Vanguard reported Dangote, the chairman of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, a subsidiary of the larger Dangote Industries, as saying that: “If the national sugar master plan is followed strictly and the players all follow the rules, the country will be better for it.”
The billionaire noted that the BIP scheme must be protected to enable the Nigerian economy to achieve its local manufacturing and job creation objectives, adding that financial efforts were being made to positively impact host communities.
In July, the Central Bank of Nigeria awarded the billionaire, alongside businessmen Abdul Samad Rabiu and John Coumantaros, unhindered access to foreign exchange and the sole right to import sugar into the country, following reasonable progress made in achieving Nigeria’s BIP in that sector.
Under the National Sugar Development Council, the government established the Nigerian Sugar Master Plan to encourage and incentivize sugar-refining companies to engage in its BIP for local sugar production.
In pursuit of this objective, Dangote Sugar announced a move last month to invest $1 billion in its expansion in Nigeria, its primary market, as it further added more than 100,000 hectares of land in cultivation to grow sugarcane for local distribution.
*The Backward Integration Plan is a process in which a company acquires or partners with other businesses that supply its raw materials for production, especially within its locality. It is a component of Nigeria’s National Sugar Master Plan.