By Ahmed Rufa’i, Dutse
The Dangote Group of Companies has promised to boost the power generation at the national grid through increased energy production in the country.
This was contained in a press statement issued by the communication officer in charge of north, Dangote Group of Companies, Malam Jibril Abubakar, said the group general manager of Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR) Numan in Adamawa state, Mr Bello Abdullahi Dan-Musa.
According to the statement, “The company operates an independent power system, and that excess energy will be redirected to the national grid.”
The statement stated further that “the power, from the Dangote Sugar Refinery, Numan, when redirected to the National Grid has the potential to contribute immensely to the rapid development of the economy of the entire Northeast”.
He added that the energy will bring about accelerated development and industrialization in the region.
“President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, had said that upon completion of the BIP projects, his sugar company will be able to create about three hundred thousand direct and indirect jobs, with positive multiplier effects on the national economy”.
The Group General manager added that “The Sugar Refinery (DSR) employs no fewer than 7,000 workers yearly in its Backward Integration Project (BIP) in Numan, Adamawa State
“The Dangote Group is Nigeria’s biggest employer of labour after the government.”
Mr. Dan-Musa said most of the employees are often engaged on a temporary basis during the cane production season.
Recently, he said the company paid over N500 million to the out-growers for the sugarcane they produced under the DSR Numan out-growers scheme.
The current capacity of the DSR Numan refinery of 4,800 Tons of Cane Per Day (TCD), he said, is being upgraded to 6,000 TCD by end of 2023, 9,800TCD by 2024 and subsequently to 15,000TCD.
According to Mr. Dan-Musa, Dangote Sugar Refinery Numan has contributed immensely in the realization of the Backward Integration program of the Federal Government.
He added that the company has acquired state of the art machines to support its production process, adding that its facilities are environmentally friendly.
The Group General Manager stated further that “its Backward Integration goal is to become a global force in sugar production, by producing 1.5M MT/PA of refined sugar from locally grown sugar cane for the domestic and export markets”.