Kenya sugar factory to be revived

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has launched the Ramisi Sugar Factory revival project and pledged to create 15,000 jobs.

Kibaki said after the completion Sh10 billion ($150 million) project, the factory would have a crushing capacity of 500,000 tonnes per day and 120,000 metric tonnes per year.

"This is a huge investment that will provide employment for about 15,000 young people when it becomes fully operational and support more than 1.5 million people," he said.

The factory stands on a 15,000-acre piece of land, which will also a include nucleus farm. Out growers would be allocated 5 acres each from the 13,000 acres donated by the government.

Kibaki said the State had bought 28,000 acres of land, whose title deed had been held by a commercial bank, clearing the way for the investor, Kwale International Sugar Company. The government, he added, is planning to expand the area under cane cultivation to about 40,000 acres. "This will enable the factory to double its crushing capacity," he said.

The President said the sugar sub-sector was a source of income for more than 200,000 small-scale farmers and second largest contributor to agricultural growth after tea. The government, he said, had taken over the Sh17 billion ($255 million) debt sugar factories owed the National Bank. "This enabled sugar companies, which were previously laden with debts, to start posting profits," he said.

The Sugar Development Fund had also been increased from Sh2 million to Sh3.1 billion to improve production.

Kibaki said Kwale has a potential of producing 250,000 metric tonnes of white-milled sugar.

Kenya produces an average of 500,000 metric tonnes against an annual consumption of about 700,000 metric tonnes.

The Standard