Illovo Malawi is the country’s biggest producer of sugar and plays a significant role in the Malawian economy. It has developed significant agricultural and milling assets at the Dwangwa Sugar Estate in the central region in Nkhotakota and the Nchalo Sugar Estate situated in the south of the country in Chikwawa.
In a normal season, Illovo Malawi grows almost two million tons of sugarcane on both estates which, combined with an average of 380,000 tons of cane grown by Malawian growers, enables the production of 255,000 tons of sugar, on average.
Dwangwa factory produces refined and brown sugar while the Nchalo factory produces brown and value-added speciality sugars. Both operations also produce molasses, a by-product of the sugar manufacturing process, which is currently sold as a fermentation raw material to the two fuel alcohol distilleries in Malawi.Majority of the sugar produced is sold into the local direct consumption market through the company’s established distribution channels and also into the local artisanal and industrial market, with the balance earning valuable foreign exchange through export sales into regional African markets and into markets in the European Union (EU) and the United States of America (USA).
Illovo Malawi is one of the country’s largest single private-sector employers providing direct employment for 9,000 people permanent, seasonal, and casual employees and an additional 5,000 direct and indirect contractors creating a total of 14,000 jobs.
Illovo is also a major contributor to the Malawian tax authorities through direct and indirect taxes. It generates valuable foreign exchange through export sugar sales. Many local industries are dependent upon Illovo for their viability and the employment created by these businesses provides an income base for many more families than are directly employed.The company further supports an estimated 5200 smallholder cane farmers through various smallholder schemes.
