Sugar Production: FG Tasks BUA on Timely Completion of LASUCO Factory
The Federal Government has urged BUA Foods to fast-track the completion of its large-scale sugar production facility in Lafiagi, Kwara State, as part of renewed efforts to achieve national self-sufficiency in sugar production.
The Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, gave the charge during a strategic inspection visit to the Lafiagi Sugar Company (LASUCO), marking the commencement of a nationwide tour of major sugar projects under Nigeria’s Backward Integration Programme (BIP).
The inspection, the minister explained, aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive to relevant agencies and investors to accelerate the country’s transition from sugar import dependence to domestic production.
During the visit, Enoh conducted an extensive tour of LASUCO’s integrated sugar complex, inspecting key components including the sugar mill, ethanol plant, power infrastructure, irrigation systems, and more than 700 hectares of cultivated sugarcane fields. The facility is designed as a 10,000-tonne cane-per-day sugar mill, with an estimated annual output of up to 220,000 metric tonnes of refined sugar upon full operation.
Commending the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Mr. Kamar Bakrin, for strengthening oversight and motivating BIP operators, the minister noted that the scale of infrastructure, level of investment, and overall project advancement at LASUCO demonstrate a clear commitment to the objectives of the sugar backward integration policy.
He, however, stressed that the Federal Government expects operators to move beyond planning and construction phases to actual production, noting that President Tinubu has mandated closer collaboration between the Ministry of Industry and the NSDC to ensure timely delivery of results.
While acknowledging progress at the Lafiagi facility, Enoh emphasised the urgent need to scale up sugarcane cultivation to match the factory’s installed capacity, describing farm expansion as critical to achieving full operational readiness.
The minister reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to sustained engagement with credible investors, traditional institutions, and host communities, as Nigeria intensifies efforts to revitalise the sugar industry, conserve foreign exchange, create jobs, and deepen industrial value chains across the country.
