HC Deb 27 October 1960 vol 627 c300W
Mr. Skeffington

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what progress has been made in growing sugar on a large scale in the Kilombero Valley, Tanganyika.

Mr. Iain Macleod

It was announced early in June that a consortium including the International Finance Corporation and the Colonial Development Corporation, together with Dutch concerns, had agreed to invest the equivalent of £2,300,000 in the Kilombero Sugar Company Limited. The total cost of the project was estimated at £3,210,000. The intention is that most of the remainder of the capital required will be provided by the issue of £700,000 convertible preferred shares in the company which will be offered for sale to Africans and other residents in East Africa. The Standard Bank of South Africa and the Colonial Development Corporation will underwrite the issue.

The Kilombero Sugar Company plans to clear 7,000 acres. A sugar mill and refinery will be erected and production is expected to begin in 1962.