Dangote set to boost sugar production, reveals $700m expansion plan

Aliko Dangote

* Dangote has the country’s largest sugar production factory with capacity of 1.44 million metric tonnes.

Dangote Group is set to end Nigeria’s dependence on imported sugar with an investment of more than $700 million sugar expansion plan aimed at boosting local production.

Dangote Sugar Refinery, one of the group’s subsidiaries, is planning to invest the money in land development, equipment, infrastructure, training and community engagement, with the aim to build a supply chain that can produce enough raw sugar locally to meet domestic demand and support future manufacturing expansion.

CEO of Dangote Sugar Refinery, Ravindra Singhvi, speaking at the 2025 Lagos International Trade Fair, said the rollout is tied to the push to deepen its backward-integration strategy. The sugar packs, according to him, will come in 100g, 250g, 500g and 1kg sizes, broadening access to households and small businesses.

Also speaking, Fatima Aliko-Dangote, the conglomerate’s Group Executive Director of Commercial Operations, said the company’s wider goal remains the same – strengthen Nigeria’s industrial base and keep more of the value chain within the country.

According to her, industrial expansion offers the strongest path to job creation and can help support smaller businesses that rely on local manufacturing.

Represented at the event by Funmi Sanni, Dangote Cement’s Sales and Marketing Director, she linked the sugar initiative to the group’s ongoing work in refining, fertilizers and petrochemicals.

Dangote Sugar Refinery remains the country’s largest sugar producer, with a capacity of 1.44 million metric tonnes.

In the first nine months of its 2025 fiscal year, the company’s revenue rose to N626.24 billion, up from N484.42 billion a year earlier.

Losses narrowed sharply as well, falling from N184.4 billion in the same period of 2024 to N10.59 billion.