Dangote Defies Boko Haram, Takes Sugar Plantations To Adamawa, Taraba, Yobe, Bauchi States

President of Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote is taking investment in Sugar plantation to the heartland of Boko Haram, having acquired some hectres of land in Adamawa, Taraba, Yobe, Bauchi and other states in the North.
Dangote, who paid a courtesy visit on Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo yesterday said that so far, his group has acquired about 260,000 hectres of land to develop sugar plantations in Adamawa and Taraba states.
He said that plans are under way to acquire more in Bauchi and Yobe states after the completion of the Kafin Zaki Dam.
Alhaji Dangote added that the group is going to partner with government on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis to ensure the realization of the project.
According to him, other states that are lined up to benefit from the plantation project are Jigawa and Sokoto, even as about 56,000 hectares of land has already been acquired in Kebbi state and payment for compensation to those affected had commenced for the same purpose.
He said that 50,000 hectares of land has also been acquired in Kogi and Kwara states for the sugarcane plantation.
Dangote said that the group is planing to produce about 1.5 million metric tonnes of sugar Ethanol, bio-compost and animal feeds and would generate about 360mw which he said is above the firm’s requirements.
He said that the group will require about 240mw while the remaining 120mw would be transferred to the national grid for distribution to the host communities, even as he said that Rice Plantation would be established in Edo and Niger states.
Already, he said, it has acquired about 50,000 hectares of land in Niger state for the project.
Dangote said that the group is deeply interested in the development of the Nigerian mining sector, pointing out that high profile mines in Nigeria has been licensed to those that do not possess the requisite capacity to develop them and that the time frame given to develop them has since expired. He added that the firm has entered into a partnership with Andre de Coulters which is one of the leading companies responsible for about 44,000mw, about a third of Brazil’s power generation capacity.
Vice President Namadi Sambo praised Dangote Group for the huge investment it has made in sugar plantation in the country, adding that it would go a long way to create employment opportunities to millions of Nigerians.
The vice president promised government’s incentive to the private sector in the development of the mining sector, particularly in coal mining.
He said that arrangements are being made to cancel the licenses of underperforming miners while advertising same to the public to attract more serious investors.
While congratulating Dangote Group on the plan to undertake Concrete Road projects which he described as good, he assured the Group of government’s readiness to partner with the private sector in capital projects, especially in the area of infrastructural development.