Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, a Nigeria-based agro-allied corporation led by Greek multimillionaire John Coumantaros, has announced his intention to invest N70 billion ($168.3 million) over the next three years to develop its sugar plantation in Nigeria’s northern region.
The decision, which corresponds with the group’s strategic efforts to become a leading player in the country’s agro-allied industry, is consistent with its commitment to assist in the growth of the sugar value chain.
According to a statement issued by the agro-allied group, the projected investment would be used to improve the upland section of the Sunti Golden Sugar Estate in Niger State.
The multimillion-dollar investment will expand on the sugar estate’s existing capacity, which includes 17,000 hectares of irrigated fields and a sugar mill that processes 4,500 metric tonnes of sugarcane each day.
When fully operational, the estate is estimated to generate 1 million tonnes of sugarcane, which translates to around 100,000 metric tonnes of sugar per year.
The new step comes nearly a week after the business notified its customers and consumers that it has no outstanding compliance concerns with the National Sugar Development Council, as confirmed by the council’s most recent raw sugar allocation for 2022.
The move follows a recent disclosure made by BUA Foods regarding Flour Mills’ alleged sugar sales suspension due to compliance difficulties.
The agro-allied organization argued that BUA Foods’ statement is erroneous and capable of producing a misleading image on the market, which is detrimental to consumer interests.
Flour Mills of Nigeria is one of Nigeria’s leading food and agro-allied groups. Since its inception in 1960, the business has evolved into a major player in Nigeria, led by the late George Coumantaros and his son, John.
Coumantaros, the chairman of Flour Mills, controls a majority 63.34-percent share in the company valued at N87 billion ($209.1 million).
The Nigeria-based agro-allied corporation reported a single-digit gain in profit for the first nine months of its 2022 fiscal year, as growing operational expenditures and input costs weighed on profit growth.
Profit climbed by more than nine percent year-on-year, from N15.58 billion ($37.5 million) to N17.05 billion ($41 million), while sales from its varied range of goods increased by more than 48 percent, from N555.3 billion ($1.34 billion) in 2021 to N825 billion ($1.98 billion).
