Africa’s richest man to more than double Ghana’s publicly irrigated farmland with new sugar project

Dangote Group Chief Executive Officer Aliko Dangote Interview (Photo: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)Forbes | 6 May 2025

by Oluwatomisin Amokeoja

Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, recently announced the launch of a large-scale sugar refinery in Ghana that is set to more than double the country’s formally irrigated farmland through a single initiative.

The Dangote Sugar Refinery, located in Kwame-Danso in Ghana’s Bono Region, will reportedly bring 25,000 hectares of farmland under irrigation to support industrial-scale sugarcane cultivation.

This represents a boost to Ghana’s formal irrigation network, which currently covers just 19,000 hectares under public schemes, according to Joseph Nartey, Deputy Director of Operations at the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA).

While Ghana has a total irrigation potential of 1.9 million hectares, only about 229,109 hectares — or 12% — are currently irrigated, and the vast majority of this is through small-scale or informal means.

The major irrigation projects maintained by GIDA primarily support rice and vegetable cultivation.

“Sugarcane production in Ghana is currently quite low,” Courage Zoiku, a Ghanaian financial analyst, tells FORBES AFRICA. “This is a massive infrastructure investment that would significantly boost production compared to the current rain-fed system, where farmers can only cultivate once annually. Doubling the harvest would increase the availability of raw materials and, in turn, enhance sugar production in Ghana.’’

The project is being implemented under Ghana’s flagship ‘One District, One Factory’ industrialization program. It aims not only to reduce the country’s dependence on imported sugar but to catalyze a self-sustaining agro-industrial ecosystem.

Ghana currently spends more than $160 million annually on sugar imports, primarily from low-cost exporters such as India, Thailand, and Brazil. Efforts to revive local sugar production have struggled, due to inconsistent supply of raw sugarcane.

Dangote’s new facility will feature an integrated sugar refinery with a daily crushing capacity of 12,000 tons of cane, as well as processing units for molasses and ethanol. The company has confirmed that all required regulatory permits have been secured and that construction is ready to begin.

Yet, infrastructure remains a critical concern.

“The government must invest in road access,” Zoiku stresses. “Once production begins, there will be not just the central farm but also hundreds of out-growers around the area. Without reliable transport infrastructure, neither raw cane nor refined sugar can reach markets like Accra efficiently.”

He also warns that the long-term viability of the project will depend on smart policy support. While agricultural companies in Ghana currently benefit from a reduced corporate tax rate of 13%, and even lower rates in designated hinterland zones, local producers remain vulnerable to competition from imported sugar unless trade protections are introduced.

“Just like with rice, sugar needs import quotas to protect domestic industry,” Zoiku argues. “If local producers can’t sell their sugar because the market is flooded with cheaper imports, all this investment risks becoming a white elephant.”

He further recommends that government institutions, such as hospitals, prisons, and school feeding programs, be mandated to prioritize locally produced sugar. “Public procurement is a powerful lever to build demand and stabilize the market,” he says.

“We envision more than just a factory,” Dangote wrote in the announcement post on LinkedIn. “We see a catalyst for autonomy, employment, and continental transformation.”