Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE government in partnership with Kilombero Sugar Company Limited (KSCL) is executing the factory’s expansion project of producing an additional 144,000 tonnes of sugar annually, thus slashing out the yearly deficit of 40,000 tonnes.
Implemented at 584bn/-, the project is envisioned to produce about 271,000 tonnes of sugar annually from the current 127,000 tonnes upon completion in June, 2024.
The Treasury Registrar, Mr Mgonya Benedicto disclosed this recently in Morogoro, emphasizing on the need to quicken pace and efficiency in implementing the project to meet the government’s goal of addressing sugar shortage in the country.
Mr Benedicto added that “I want you to increase speed as well as strengthen supervision of the project. The government will accord all the necessary cooperation in making possible the finalisation of the crucial project in the country’s development.” Elaborating, he noted that the government accumulates 25 per cent of the shares in the company, besides the remaining percentage that belongs to Illovo Sugar Africa.
Equally, Mr Benedicto commended KSCL management for backing the government initiatives through the historic investment that aims at increasing sugar production and addressing the existing gap in the country.
On his part, KSCL General Manager-Finance, Mr Fakihi Fadhili said the expansion project is expected to scale up the capacity of sugarcane obtained from Kilombero Valley by smallscale farmers from 600,000 tonnes to 1,700,000 tonnes.
Elaborating further, he said the initiative will relieve the farmers from the hassle of looking for a reliable market for their products, adding that in turn their income will increase three times to 300bn/- by 2028.
Mr Fakihi noted that the number of farmers who will engage in sugarcane production will increase from 8,000 to 16,000 and benefit 100,000 people who reside around the Kilombero Valley.
On employment, he said more than 2000 people will acquire direct employment and contribute to the increase of revenues collected from the current 50bn/- being paid by the company. Besides, the project is expected to enable 10 megawatts of power generation for the factory’s own use and the rest distributed through the national grid.
On the other hand, the factory’s increased output will significantly boost the country’s economy from 340bn/- obtained annually to 750bn/-.
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