Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso denounced the 1998 convention which authorized the transfer of its shares in SN-SOSUCO to private individuals, thus opening the resumption of its actions to make this structure new very strategic, a state company.
»As part of the Ministry of Industrial Development, Trade, Crafts and Small and Medium Enterprises, the Council adopted a report relating to the Comoé Sugar Company (SOSUCO). According to Minister Serge Gnaniodem PODA, this company belonged to the State until 1998 when, following the wave of privatizations, the State's shares were sold to a strategic consortium called “Sucre participation”.
This sale aimed to enable the company, on the basis of the commitments made by the strategic actor, to invest over a period of 5 years for approximately 20 billion FCFA in order to strengthen the production capacities of sugar cane and sugar on a national scale, and also to work to make alcohol production sustainable, with another company annexed to SN-SOSUCO called “Alcohol Production Company (SOPAL)”.
By examining the report submitted to it, the Council of Ministers noted that the various commitments which had conditioned the transfer of State shares to the strategic partner had not been respected.
“From this observation and taking into account the very strategic role of SN-SOSUCO, the government decided to denounce the 98 convention. This denunciation therefore opens operations in terms of resumption of State shares for the benefit of the State itself so that this company becomes a state company again,” indicated Minister PODA.
Source: Burkina Information Agency