Chairman of BUA’s Group Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu has enjoined Nigerian businesses to increase value addition to local products to avoid recurring global shocks that often hit developing countries.
He said his Group’s $400million sugar refinery remains a pointer to the way to the future of African agricultural sector.
This was even as experts have said his investment in agriculture typically confirms claims by the President of the African Development Mr Akinwunmi Adesina, that agriculture will create Africa’s next billionaires.
They argued that Abdul Samad Rabiu’s investing in a vertically integrated sugar facility in Nigeria’s Kwara state was creating opportunities for stronger industrial growth and value addition given the multiplier effect of the project.
The $400million project includes a 20,000-hectare sugar plantation, a sugar milling plant, a sugar refinery, an ethanol plant and a 35 MW power plant fuelled by bagasse, a sugar cane residue account latest report is set to commence operation.
Although sugar may not get the attention of other crops, even though it is frequently in the top five crops traded globally by value. Africa has some important producers – notably in Southern Africa such as Eswatini and Mozambique – but countries such as Nigeria, Egypt and Algeria still import more than they consume. In Nigeria imports account for 90 per cent of consumption.
Making use of competitive advantages: For Rabiu, sugar is one of many low-hanging fruits when it comes to the agricultural opportunity and to working within the country’s import substitution strategy. His group – one of the most important diversified conglomerates in Nigeria, is already the fourth largest listed company in Nigeria by market capitalisation, operating in foods, cement, mining and infrastructure, and now agricultural production and processing.
Rabiu made his fortune in cement and is applying the same logic to agriculture by tapping into the nation’s areas of competitive advantage to create jobs and wealth for the people.
For instance in the cement sector the Group utilises all local inputs namely limestone and gypsum all of which can be found in commercial quantities in Nigeria. He said this advantage has reduced production costs to make its cement brand quite competitive against imports, both in Nigeria (which has become self-sufficient in cement) and also neighbouring countries. He however, said that energy costs remain a concern, however.Localised production is key: Still, the maths are simple in terms of agriculture, he says.