Illovo Sugar, which is 51%-owned by Associated British Foods (ABF), has approved a GBP100m investment in the Mali sugar industry.
Illovo Sugar will hold a 70% stake in the venture, which will see the construction of a new sugar mill, an ethanol plant and an electricity co-generation unit. The remaining stake will be held by the Mali government and private investors.
Illovo will also manage a government-sponsored agricultural development to produce 1.5m tonnes of sugar cane a year to supply the new facility, ABF said.
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Sugar production is scheduled to begin in December 2009, with full capacity expected to be reached in two years. The plant’s eventual annual capacity will be 200,000 tonnes, while the ethanol plant will be able to produce 15m litres per annum.
George Weston, ABF’s CEO, said: “This investment in Mali follows Illovo’s recently announced expansion in Zambia and is further evidence of the region’s development potential and our commitment to it.”
