LAGOS, NIGERIA — Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN), one of the world’s largest flour millers, plans to invest up to $1 billion over the next four years to expand its operations, The Nation reported, citing a company announcement.
John Coumantaros, chairman of FMN, said the company plans to invest $100 million to establish a cassava-processing plant aimed at eliminating cassava starch imports and at least $500 million to increase sugar production in Niger State from 100,000 tonnes to over 400,000 tonnes annually.
Coumantaros said plans, which emphasize FMN’s commitment to investment in Nigeria, also include expansion of the company’s breakfast cereal line. Most of the funding will come from FMN.
“The requirement for capital is going to be very large,” Coumantaros said. “And of course we will be backing the majority of that, but when you grow, you can’t do everything yourself. You need to invite those experts of the best in the field to really support you and assist you and bring some of that technical expertise so we can grow more business, more jobs here in the country.”
With a daily wheat grinding capacity of 8,000 tonnes, FMN operates one of the largest flour milling complexes in the world in Apapa.
In itsmost recent earnings report, FMN showed a net profit of N6.9 billion ($4.3 million) during the first quarter ended June 30, a significant improvement from a loss of N9.3 billion during the same period a year ago.
