FG Tasks Dangote Sugar: 600,000MT by 2030.

FG Tasks Dangote Sugar: 600,000MT by 2030.

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• Nigeria’s Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Enoh, has tasked Dangote Sugar Refinery with hitting an annual production capacity of 600,000 metric tonnes by 2030, during a government inspection visit to the company’s Numan facility in Adamawa State.
• Nigeria currently consumes approximately 1.8 million metric tonnes of sugar annually but produces significantly less domestically, leaving a large import-dependent gap that costs the country hundreds of millions of dollars each year in foreign exchange.
• Dangote Group Vice President Olakunle Alake confirmed the company’s commitment to meet the 600,000MT target by 2030, pledging to invest additional resources and scale up production capacity.
• The Federal Government identified access to affordable long-term financing described by the minister as “patient capital” as the single most critical obstacle to accelerating Dangote Sugar’s expansion, and indicated willingness to assist in raising the required capital.
• Dangote Sugar Refinery, listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group since 2007, holds roughly 80% of Nigeria’s consumer sugar market and operates the largest sugar refinery in Sub-Saharan Africa, with an installed refining capacity of 1.44 million metric tonnes per annum at its Apapa facility.

The Federal Government has officially challenged Dangote Sugar Refinery to more than match its current production output within four years, as President Tinubu’s administration accelerates a multi-year drive to reduce Nigeria’s costly dependence on imported sugar. The government has acknowledged that financing not ambition remains the critical bottleneck.

The Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Enoh, gave the charge during a visit to the Dangote Sugar Refinery complex in Numan, Adamawa State, accompanied by the Executive Secretary of the National Sugar Development Council, Mr Kamar Bakrin. The visit formed part of an inspection of sugar projects nationwide in line with President Bola Tinubu’s directive to accelerate Nigeria’s attainment of self-sufficiency in sugar production. The Numan facility is Dangote Sugar’s primary backward integration site, sitting on 32,000 hectares of land and serving as the operational backbone of the company’s domestically-grown sugarcane programme. The minister said Nigeria’s current local sugar output falls far short of its annual consumption of about 1.8 million metric tonnes, adding that Dangote Sugar Refinery, as a leading operator in the sector, must contribute significantly to bridging the gap. During the inspection, the minister and NSDC Executive Secretary toured the new 6,000 tonnes-per-day factory expansion site, harvest fields, haulage and new field developments, as well as mills, boilers, turbine evaporators and the sugar bagging warehouse a detailed walkthrough that signals the government’s intention to hold the company accountable at the operational level.

The 600,000MT target sits within a broader national framework that has been in motion for over a decade. Nigeria launched the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) in 2012 under former President Goodluck Jonathan, with the aim of achieving domestic sugar self-sufficiency and reducing the country’s annual raw sugar import bill. In 2020 alone, raw sugar importation cost Nigeria $433 million lower than the $516 million spent in 2016 underscoring the significant and persistent foreign exchange drain the sector represents. Dangote Sugar has been the plan’s flagship private sector vehicle, committing more than $700 million to land acquisition, machinery, infrastructure, manpower, and community development across backward integration projects in Adamawa, Nasarawa, and Taraba states, and acquiring over 120,000 hectares of land for sugarcane cultivation. For the full year ended December 31, 2025, Dangote Sugar Refinery Group reported total revenue of approximately N829.2 billion, though it posted a loss before tax of N72.3 billion, impacted significantly by naira devaluation a reminder that even market-leading revenue does not insulate the company from Nigeria’s macroeconomic pressures.

The government’s candour about financing constraints was notable. Senator Enoh acknowledged that access to affordable long-term capital described as “patient capital” remains a nagging obstacle, and stated that the government is looking at how it can get involved to assist Dangote Sugar in raising the required financing to push the expansion over the line. This framing is significant: it signals that the 600,000MT target, while formally endorsed by both parties, is contingent on resolving a structural capital access problem that the private sector alone cannot solve. Interest rates in Nigeria remain elevated, making long-horizon agricultural investment particularly difficult to finance commercially. Dangote Group Vice President Olakunle Alake assured the minister of the company’s renewed commitment to invest more resources and scale up production capacity, confirming that the 600,000MT target would be met by 2030. The company’s longer-term internal target remains even more ambitious Dangote Sugar’s Backward Integration Project aims to produce 1.5 million metric tonnes per annum from locally grown sugarcane , a figure that would, if achieved, go a long way toward closing Nigeria’s total annual sugar consumption gap of 1.8 million metric tonnes.

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