Nigeria’s foremost conglomerate, Dangote Industries Limited, is to invest $300 million (N50 billion) in rice production to make the country self sufficient in rice production and also stop importation of the product into the country.

The President of the Group, Aliko Dangote, last week at the World Economic Forum (WEF), Davos Switzerland, said his Group’s planned investment in the agriculture sector will create additional 180,000 jobs in the economy.

Explaining his Group’s foray into agriculture, Dangote said. “If I dreamt five years ago that I would invest in agriculture, I would write it off as a bad dream or nightmare but today, we’re investing $2.3 billion in Agriculture, $2 billion in sugar, and $300 million in rice. In Nigeria, we have one of the most attractive investment policies through framework that the government has put in place to help businesses succeed.”

A statement issued over the weekend in Lagos by Dangote Group said: “It is expected that the planned investment will effectively enable the country become self-sufficient in food production as it did in cement sector.”

News Express reports that Dangote Group ended cement importation with three plants located at Obajana, Gboko and Ibese meeting domestic demand for cement. The Group has promised to put Nigeria on the world sugar map and end importation of raw sugar through massive investment in sugar cultivation as part of the national sugar master plan.

Dangote Sugar, a subsidiary of the Group, is a frontline player in the sugar backward integration policy. The company is working towards producing a million tons of white sugar by 2015, cultivating 100,000 hectares in about six states of Sokoto, Kebbi, Jigawa, Taraba, Kogi and Kwara State.

•Photo shows Dangote Group President, Aliko Dangote.