Julius Mwale plans to bring in Dangote-linked firm to manage Mumias Sugar

Indian engineering consultancy firm J.P Mukherji & Associates (JPMA) is expected to run Mumias Sugar under the operating directives of Kenyan mogul Julius Mwale’s company should it win the bid to control and revive the sugar business over a 15-year period.

JPMA provides consultancy services for sugar and allied industries in more than 30 countries across four continents. The company is known for managing assets owned by Dangote Sugar Refineries, a sugar-refining company founded by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.

Recently, Mwale’s Tumaz and Tumaz Enterprises placed the highest bid of Ksh27.6 billion ($249.31 million) as part of a leasing tender to control and revive Mumias Sugar over a 15-year period.

This places him ahead of Kenyan steel tycoon Narendra Raval and Rai Group Chairman Jaswant Rai, who both expressed an interest in reviving the financially distressed sugar company.

Mumias Sugar is a Kenyan integrated sugar company founded in 1971. The company was once the largest sugar manufacturer in Kenya, producing as much as 250,000 metric tonnes of sugar per annum.

After it ran into a financial crisis in 2012 due to procedural and financial irregularities leading to a loss of millions of dollars, Kenya Commercial Bank Group placed the company under receivership in 2019 to revive the sugar producer and protect its assets.

Information gathered by Billionaires.Africa revealed that Mwale received a $200-million (Sh22.1 billion) loan commitment from a leading U.S. bank to strengthen his chances of taking home the lease in Mumias Sugar.

In a show of interest and commitment to revamping the Kenya-based sugar producer, Mwale offered Ksh2.2 billion ($20 million) to farmers in an effort to restore sugarcane farming and jumpstart cultivation and production.

In addition to the commitment, he also has plans to allocate KSh2.2 billion ($20 million), Ksh887 million ($8 million) and Ksh221 million ($2 million), respectively, to revive two ethanol plants owned by the company, so as to boost operating activities along the industrial value chain.

Mwale is the president and CEO of SBA Technologies, a New York-based company founded in 2003. He is also the lead investor in Mwale Medical and Technology City, a $2-billion community-owned sustainable metropolis in Kenya.