Sugar production: FG tasks Flour Mills on 300,000MT target by 2030

L-R: The Director of Strategy and Stakeholder Relations at Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, Sadiq Usman; Head, Strategy and Performance Management at the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Edirin Akemu; the Group Chief Executive Officer of Golden Sugar Company (GSC), Boye Olusanya; the Minister of state for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh; the Executive Secretary/CEO of NSDC, Kamar Bakrin; and GSC General Manager, Anlo Du Pisani; during the Minister’s visit to the GSC Complex in Sunti, Niger state.

The Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, has tasked the management of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc on the need to expand the annual production capacity of its subsidiary, the Golden Sugar Company (GSC), to 300,000 metric tonnes by the year 2030.

The Minister, accompanied by the Executive Secretary of the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Kamar Bakrin, gave the charge when he visited the GSC Complex in Sunti, Niger state.

The visit was the third in the series of 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 and the NSDC Executive Secretary had visited the Lafiagi Sugar Company (LASUCO) owned by BUA Foods in Lafiagi, Kwara state, on Monday, December 15, 2025. The duo were at the Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR) Complex on Wednesday, April 8, 2026.

In Sunti, the Minister noted that the current local sugar production in the country is a long distance away from the 1.8m metric tonnes that the country consumes annually, adding that, the GSC must contribute 300,000 metric tonnes in the year 2030.

He said he was impressed by the volume of activities going on in the complex, saying it amounts to huge value addition.

“It is a reflection of the implementation of the government’s Backward Integration Programme (BIP). It also demonstrates that there is a business going on; there is an industry with all the elements that you can think about.

“People are gainfully employed. At its peak, I understand this facility has about 4,500 workers. So, government’s requirement for gainful employment is itself achieved here.

“I have never stopped getting amazed at what production can be. From the farm, you get to the factory and find sugar produced.
“This itself begins to demonstrate the ability of the country, of these business people, and of the industry to achieve set targets.

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“While we can praise this to be an implementation of the BIP, it still falls quite short in terms of what expectations are of that policy. But I am glad that there is an ambition that by 2030 the annual output is going to increase to 300,000 metric tonnes,” the Minister said.

He reaffirmed government’s commitment to industrialisation and continued support for industrialists, including fiscal incentives and funding efforts.

“We are not there yet, but there is commitment; there is push, and the government itself is serious about industrialisation,” he noted.

Also speaking, the NSDC boss acknowledged the significant strides the Golden Sugar Company has made in recent times, but added that the journey is still far ahead and a lot has to be done to meet set targets.

“Without a doubt, we consistently acknowledge the very impressive strides that they make. We appreciate the commitment, the creativity they bring to developing projects.

“At the same time, we are relentless in pointing out numerous opportunities for improvement because we have a very significant journey ahead of us. It’s not going to be achieved by us passing the buck constantly, but by holding each other accountable for delivering results. Not just delivering results, but delivering results in a cost effective and timely manner.

“The commitment of government to this is beyond question. The support that government has provided and will continue to provide is beyond question and the requirement for accountability is going to remain the same. At the Sugar Council, we have a very senior team that is dedicated to supporting the Golden Sugar Company,” he said.

Boye Olusanya, Group Chief Executive Officer of Golden Sugar Company, disclosed that the company currently cultivates about 6,600 hectares, producing about 20,000 metric tonnes of sugar annually, with plans to scale up to 290,000 metric tonnes by the end of 2030.

While the delegation undertook a farm and factory tour of the facility, the highlight of the visit was the commissioning of the Sugar Training School built by the GSC and located with the complex.

Iheanyi Nwachukwu

Iheanyi Nwachukwu, is a creative content writer with almost two decades journalism experience writing on banking, finance, capital markets, and tax. The multiple awards winning journalist is Assistant Editor, BusinessDay. Iheanyi holds BSc Degree in Economics from Imo State University; Master of Science (MSc) Degree in Management from University of Lagos. Iheanyi has attended several work-related trainings including (i) Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (Pan African University, Lagos); (ii) News Agency Journalism (Indian Institute of Mass Communication {IIMC}, New Delhi, India); and (iii) Capital Markets Development and Regulations (International Law Institute {ILI} of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA). Other trainings Iheanyi attended include: Economic/Political Risk Analysis (By Thomson Reuters Foundation); International Financial Journalism (IFJ) (By PMA Media Training, UK); Effective Business Writing Skills (By Phillips Consulting); Reporting on Corporate Governance (By International Finance Corporation (IFC) & Thomson Reuters Foundation UK); etc. In addition, he has participated in high-level economy & markets events in Dubai, South Africa, Morocco, and other African countries like Zambia, Ghana and Gambia.