A fund of US investors is preparing to take over the company Tongaat Hulett Moçambique, the current owner of the sugar factories in Xinavane, Maputo province, and Mafambisse, in Sofala.
According to the newspaper, “the takeover operation should be concluded by the end of this month, with expected investments of around 350 million dollars,” to be made through the Fund for the Sustainable Development of the Sugar Industry in Africa (FSID).
“Of the planned investments, 220 million will be for the acquisition of the company Tongaat Hulett Moçambique, around 60 million for the payment of existing debts and the remainder for the development of production fields,” reads the report published on Monday, December 4.
In the two factories it owns in the country, Tongaat is responsible for around 60% of the country’s sugar production. In addition to the large commercial producers that supply it, the company has also invested in a system of promoting sugar cane production involving local communities.
It currently includes more than three thousand small independent producers, organized individually or in associations. Not long ago, these small producers were responsible for supplying nearly 38% of the cane used to make sugar.
In Mozambique, the sugar sector directly employs around 35,000 people and contributes 25% of agricultural exports, according to data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
