South Kivu Sugar Refinery (SKSR) ( French: ''Sucrerie du Kivu''), formerly called Kiliba Sugar Refinery, (French: ''Sucrerie de Kiliba''), is a sugar manufacturing company in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. After a 25-year period of inactivity since 1996, the sugar factory resumed production in March 2021, under new management and a new brand name.

Location

The sugar refinery and the headquarters of the company that operates the factory are located in the town of Kiliba, in the ''Ruzizi Region'', in

Uvira Territory Uvira Territory is a Territories of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, territory located in South Kivu, South Kivu Province in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Encompassing an area of roughly 3,146 kilometers and with ...

South Kivu Province South Kivu (; ) is one of 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Bukavu. Located within the East African Rift's western branch Albertine Rift, it is bordered to the east by Lake Kivu, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania ...

, in eastern DR Congo. This is approximately , by road, south of the city of

Bukavu Bukavu is a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), lying at the extreme south-western edge of Lake Kivu, west of Cyangugu in Rwanda, and separated from it by the outlet of the Ruzizi River. It is the capital of the South Kivu P ...

, the provincial capital. Kiliba is located about , by road, north of the city of

Uvira Uvira is a city strategically located in the South Kivu Province of the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Covering approximately 16 square kilometers and with an estimated population of 726,000 as of 2024, it borders Baful ...

, on the northern shores of

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika ( ; ) is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake. It is the world's List of lakes by volume, second-largest freshwater lake by volume and the List of lakes by depth, second deepest, in both cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. ...

Overview

The sugar factory was established in 1956 by a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

national, ''Baron Kronacker'', under the name "Sucrerie de Kiliba" (Kiliba Sugar Refinery). The factory averaged between 15,000 tons and 19,000 tons of sugar, in annual output, with maximum production of 21,000 tons, achieved once in its history. Due to mismanagement, annual sugar output fell to 900 tons by 1996. That same year saw the beginning of the

First Congo War The First Congo War, also known as Africa's First World War, was a Civil war, civil and international military conflict that lasted from 24 October 1996 to 16 May 1997, primarily taking place in Zaire (which was renamed the Democratic Republi ...

. Sucrerie Kiliba closed down in 1996 due to economic reasons and a deteriorating security situation.

Take-over and rehabilitation

In the 2000s the

Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, also known as the Cabinet, is the junior institution in the executive branch of the central government, central authority governing the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the senior instit ...

, which owned 40 percent of Kiliba Sugar Refinery, dissolved the company and invited qualified investors to form a new company and rehabilitate the plantation and factory. They settled on a

consortium A consortium () is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations, or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a ...

, based in

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, with a track record of profitable investments in sugar growing, processing and marketing. The consortium is referred to as the "Super Group of Companies". Beginning circa 2017, the Tanzanian consortium, using their own funds and starting with a sugarcane nursery of , expanded the acreage under cultivation to . They also rehabilitated and modernized the factory. The Congolese government, did not participate financially in the company's modernization and upgrade, despite being a shareholder in the business.

Ownership

As of March 2021, the shareholding in the

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

of South Kivu Sugar Refinery is as illustrated in the table below.

References

External links

Kiliba Sugar Complex Rehabilitation And Extension Project
As at October 1995. {{coord, 03, 15, 47, S, 29, 12, 29, E, display=title Food and drink companies established in 1956 1956 establishments in the Belgian Congo South Kivu Sugar companies of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Manufacturing companies of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Agriculture in the Democratic Republic of the Congo