In 1998, thanks to the privatization imposed by Bretton Wood, the Burkinabe government sold its shares in the new Comoe sugar company (SN-SOSUCO) to a strategic consortium called “Sucre participation”. The objective of this sale was to allow the majority shareholder to invest a lot of money in sugar production to meet national needs over a period of 5 years, or around 20 billion FCFA. Better still, the buyer had to make alcohol production sustainable for the benefit of the alcohol production company (SOPAL). 25 years later, the two major commitments by the end of August 2023 were judged by the government to be fundamentally unsatisfactory, said the Minister of Industrial Development, Trade, Crafts and SMEs, Serges Poda at the exit from the Council of Ministers on October 25, 2023. The government says it has made the bitter observation of a reduction in sugar cane production and the weakness of sugar production to the point that Sn-sosuco is obliged to import sugar sugar from outside and then package them and put them on the local consumer market. According to Minister Serges Poda, in addition to the shortcomings raised, there is the strategic nature of Sn-sosuco and especially the economic, financial and social role which was lacking. On this, the Burkinabè State decided to denounce the concession agreement with its partner Sucre Participation. Sn-sosuco is on the verge of becoming a state company again if the share buyback procedure is successful. This option to take control of Sn-sosuco, according to the minister, is to allow the company to have all the conditions for producing sugar cane for the manufacture of sugar and to be able to satisfy national demand. Another objective is to reduce sugar imports which are a burden on the company’s budget. According to our information, Sn-sosuco has a potential of 35,000 to 38,000 tonnes per year, which represents approximately 25% of national consumption. To compensate for this lack of sugar cane production, the company wanted to have a new complex where there is space like Samandéni or other. Which site should allow for an area of 15,000 hectares for a yield of approximately 120,000 tonnes of production.
RD