Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City
Kenya is expected to commission its tenth white sugar processing factory next July. This will place the country to a near self-sufficiency in sugar products. Already the country has nine sugar mills most of them are located in the sugar growing region in Western part of the country.
Once fully operational, the new sugar mill, which is currently under construction in the Coastal district of Kwale will help the country cut-down its perennial deficit in sugar preproduction for its domestic requirement and needs.
Available statistics shows that Kenya is currently producing close to 500,000 of made sugar, while domestic needs stands at about 700,000 tons annually. This leaves about 200,000 tons, which the country is sourcing from foreign countries. At the present the bulk of these imports come from Egypt, a country which is outside the Preferential Trade ArEA for East and Southern African countries [COMESA}. However it has since been discovered that Egypt is a country which is producing less sugar for its domestic supplies, but only imports the commodity from Brazil, which in turn is re-exporting to Kenya.
Sugar products sale into the domestic and international market would boost the economy. The firm which is constructing the new factor is called Kwale International Sugar Company Limited [KISCO} The firm is expected to invest about USD 200 million which is equivalent to KJSHS 17 .1 billion. The project is also expected to generate 80 megawatt of electricity with 25 per cent being used to the plant and 75 per cent to be used for water supplies to the mill, and the rest would be connected to the national grid.
The new factory is expected to go into production on or about July 24, 2014 when its products would be introduced into the regional and local market. The project director Mr Harsil Kotwxha was recently quoted by the media as saying that that because sugar cane takes a year to mature in the coastal region due to unfavorable weather, compared to between 18 and 24 months in other sugar cane growing zones in Western KENYA.
The firm is currently embarked in constructing green field system of sugar cane growing. It started land preparation and cultivation in 2010 through the cultivation and plugging of a 5000 hectares nucleus estate farm.
The entire project is expected to cost Kshs 17.1 billion. It was launched by the retired President MWAI kibaki in 2007. It is owned by members of a family of business men through their family business flagship IPabari investment.
Endshich undertook the initiative following the collapse of Ramisi Sugar factory in 1980,which later sold 25 per cent share equity to Omni Sugar.
The project was partly financed by CPC/Stanbic and the PTA bank. At the same time about 1,200 local farmers were registered as the cane out growers. They have so far put about 4000 hectares of land read for sugar cane plantation2. The government of Kenya had leased 15,000 hectare of land for the same purpose..
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