Speaking at the 2018 Customer Celebration and Distributor Awards Night held on Thursday in Lagos, Aliko Dangote; President/Chief Executive Officer, Dangote Industries Limited, said that the event was organised in appreciation of customers for making Dangote food products a house hold name in Nigeria.
Dangote Foods, comprising of Dangote Flour Mills, Dangote Sugar Refinery and NASCON Allied Industries rewarded a total of 77 customers who distinguished themselves in 2017.
At the award night, 11 winners emerged from each of the geopolitical regions while the balance was in the national category. A total of 23 distributors won awards from Dangote Sugar Refinery, 27 from Dangote Flour Mills and 27 from NASCON Allied Industries.
Dangote said: “We are gathered here in honour of our customers and distributors who have distinguished themselves in the distribution of our food products range and also to thank all the staff at DFM, NASCON and Dangote Sugar for their contribution.
“We are a major player in the food sector where our business units; Dangote Flour Mills, Dangote Sugar Refinery and NASCON Allied Industries are clear leaders in their respective fields. We are firm believers in the vast economic potential of Nigeria. This has informed our desire to invest massively in some states across the country. Our target is to ensure that Nigeria becomes self-sufficient in all the sectors where we play.”
Giving an update on the strides of the Group in the food sector, Dangote stated: “In the Sugar sector, we developed a sugar backward integration project plan targeted at the production of 1.5MT/PA from various sites across Nigeria, in the next 10 years and we are acquiring about 150,000 hectares for sugar plantation in Adamawa, Taraba, Nasarawa, Kwara, Kogi and Niger States. We signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Nasarawa State Government for the construction of an integrated sugar complex located at Tunga.”
He said that this will generate over 100,000 employment opportunities from all the sugar projects, saying that: “We will establish integrated sugar mills within these locations, generate electricity, and produce animal feeds from bagasse and molasses.”
For Dangote Flour Mills, he said, “we have a three-point growth plan, to focus on sustaining high product quality, improving customer engagement and strengthening supply chain capabilities.
“We introduced new improved pasta product called ‘Excellente’ which comes with a new taste and in new packs. Our flour has remained the bakers’ choice and toast of many confectionary companies. We are currently conducting tests to evaluate the suitability of our soils in Nigeria in the cultivation of wheat.”
