Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, a flagship subsidiary of the Dangote Group, has unveiled an ambitious $700 million expansion programme aimed at completely eliminating Nigeria’s reliance on imported sugar through aggressive backward integration.
The multi-year investment will focus on large-scale land development for sugarcane cultivation, acquisition of modern planting and harvesting equipment, construction of supporting infrastructure, workforce training, and sustained community-development initiatives.
The ultimate goal is to establish a fully domesticated raw-material supply chain capable of meeting 100% of Nigeria’s annual sugar demand and creating room for future capacity increases.
Speaking at the 2025 Lagos International Trade Fair, Mr Ravindra Singhvi, Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Sugar Refinery, described the initiative as the most significant phase yet of the company’s long-standing backward-integration policy.
He revealed that refined sugar from the expanded operations will be packaged in more consumer-friendly sizes – 100g, 250g, 500g, and 1kg sachets and packs – to improve affordability and accessibility for households and small enterprises.
Mrs Fatima Aliko-Dangote, Group Executive Director, Commercial Operations at Dangote Group, emphasised that the project aligns with the conglomerate’s broader vision of retaining maximum economic value within Nigeria.
“Industrialisation remains the surest route to sustainable job creation and the growth of ancillary businesses that depend on locally manufactured inputs,” she stated, represented at the event by Ms Funmi Sanni, Sales and Marketing Director of Dangote Cement.
The new investment builds on Dangote Sugar’s existing dominance in the Nigerian market, where it currently operates the country’s largest refining capacity of 1.44 million metric tonnes per annum.
Financially, the company continues to show strong recovery and growth. In the first nine months of its 2025 financial year, group revenue climbed to ₦626.24 billion, representing a year-on-year increase from ₦484.42 billion.
Losses recorded in the corresponding period of 2024 have also been drastically reduced from ₦184.4 billion to ₦10.59 billion, signaling improved operational efficiency and market performance.
The announcement has been widely welcomed as a major boost to Nigeria’s quest for self-sufficiency in strategic commodities and a significant step toward strengthening the nation’s industrial base.
