Omnicane

WRITTEN BY BEN WALKER

“Sugar” says Jacques M. d’Unienville, Chief Executive Officer of its largest producer, Omnicane, “is the history of Mauritius. The nation was built around sugar.”

NATION WITH A Sweet Tooth

So when in 2009

the EU removed

trade preferences

underpinning quality and

export price, it might have been

wondered whether Mauritius’

sugar industry would follow

the fate of that flightless, once

indigenous bird, now extinct for

300 years.

“You’re right. The Mauritius

sugar industry could have

gone along that way,” laughs

d’Unienville. “At Omnicane we

had a choice of phasing out of

sugar or to survive and remain

competitive. This last option is

the one we took.”

Mauritius itself diversified

into textiles, upmarket tourism,

banking and business process

outsourcing, while the sugar

industry was forced to cut costs

and add value to survive.

And no company has taken

this pathway more successfully

than Omnicane. Traditionally a

major sugar mill organisation

with origins reaching back to

the 1850s, its current offering

is significantly more diverse,

reaching out from sugarcane,

refined sugar and bio ethanol, to

power plants and most recently,

the hospitality business.

Launched in July 2009

through a strategic re-branding

of MonTrésor-MonDésert,

Omnicane has been proactive

in its approach to stabilise not

only its own operations, but

also the island’s economy. And

as a result the future now looks

brighter both in terms of further

expansion and development into

Africa.

But what is built can fall. And this volcanic island of lagoons and palm-fringed beaches in the Indian Ocean has a fabled mascot - and legendary victim of ill fate - the dodo.

OMNICANE

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FORGES TARDIEU LTDFORGES TARDIEU LTD

31 Nicolay Road, Port-Louis, Mauritius,Tel: (230)2065200, Fax: (230)2407179

Email: [email protected]://www.forgestardieu.com

31 Nicolay Road, Port-Louis, Mauritius - Tel: (230) 206 5200 - Fax: (230) 240 7159 - Email: [email protected]

FORGES TARDIEU LTD

• Consultancy and Design Services

• Project Management

• Engineering and Manufacturing of Sugar Mill Equipment

• Automation and Control

• Erection and relocation of plant and equipment

“What we did was necessary, with vision from the private sector,

government and workforce making it possible to survive and hopefully

a very successful reconversion,” says Jacques M. d’Unienville

For cost cutting, Omnicane took a centralisation route, closing

seven of the eight factories it was operating ten years ago, and

focussing operations on one unit, at the flexi-factory at La Baraque,

with a crushing capacity of 9,000 metric tonnes of cane per day. Being

the only one to have adopted the diffuser technology on the island, it

is one of the most modern and energy efficient sugar cane mill in the

region.

Simultaneously thermal

energy operations at La Baraque

and Saint Aubin are now

generating some 28 percent

of exported electricity to the

national grid.

“Before, we produced raw

sugar and molasses that were

both exported wWe have now

moved up the value chain,

investing in the cane cluster

at La Baraque moving up the

value chain by producing direct

consumption refined sugar

for Europe, bio ethanol from

molasses, bio fertilisers from

vinasseand with the bagasse -

the fibres of the sugar cane - we

are generating electricity for the

national grid in a substantial way.”

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M&E Office Tel:+230 677 9838 Fax: +230 677 7200 Andre Gerard Closel: +230 5 7275201 Website: www.m-e.mu info: [email protected]

Warm congratulations to the Omnicane team for their outstanding performance and their contribution to our island’s economic achievements making Mauritius one of the wisest countries in green energy production.

We are proud to be the partners of Omnicane in the following fields:Renewable Energies • LV/HV Switchgear • Lighting Technologies • Power Distribution

OMNICANE

While Mauritius is close to optimizing its full biomass energy

potential, on the African continent there remains much to do, says

d’Unienville.

Unsurprisingly, Africa holds a central position on Omnicane’s

expansionary agenda, with a 25% share in the construction of a 200

million dollar sugar complex in Kenya, south of Mombasa. Production

of both sugar and electricity is scheduled to start there next June.

With a capacity of 3,000 tonnes of cane per day, it will include

an 18 megawatt power plant running on bagasse, and is expected

to boost competition in the sugar industry where manufacturers

continue to be bogged down by high production costs due to use of

old technology. Other African projects include the development of a

5 MW hydroelectric power plant in Rwanda, due to be operational in

18 months.

“Our vision is to be a significant regional sugar and electricity

producer and develop further value-added activities,” says

d’Unienville. The recent strategic alliance with a British company,

Liverpool-based The Real Good Food Company plc, and its sugar

division Napier Brown - Europe’s leading independent non-refining

sugar distributor - is a striking example. “We want to have more

integration into our products and make the most of value-addidition.”

31, Nicolay Road, PO Box 20, Port Louis, MauritiusTel: (230) 206 5280 | Fax: (230) 216 0484 - (230) 240 7159 | [email protected] | www.ecs.mu

Waterman (Mauritius) Inc. Ltd.

Experts in Manufacturing and Exporting Sulphur and Lime

[email protected] 00230 2655084Palm Ave, Triolet, Trou Aux Biches, 171 Mauritius

Mauritius Airport close to the

fast-expanding airport.

Scheduled to open in

December, the hotel is part of a

25-30 year development plan

that includes office parks and

residential properties.

Social and environmental

responsibilities are core to

the company’s culture and

philosophy. “We strive to be

an inspiration for sustainable

development in all our activities.

We have a long term vision, and

to be sustainable we have to care

for the social and environmental

needs,” says Jacques M.

d’Unienville

Through its corporate

social responsibility initiatives,

Omnicane has established real

partnerships for sustainable

human and community

development in the vicinity of its

main operating locations.

“In all our activities we are

concerned to be environmentally

friendly aiming towardswith

zero waste and generating as

much renewable energy as is

achievable.”

OMNICANE

And while Omnicane continues to roll out its diversification

strategies, the main challenges says d’Unienville are the careful

monitoring of growth and matching expansion with financial

resources.

“This is why last year we went through a 100 million US dollars

bond issue with a multi-currency facility. So far, we have raised two

tranches out of the three and each has been oversubscribed.”

Omnicane’s most radical diversification - into the hospitality

sector - is flag shipped by a 140 room business hotel – Holiday Inn

The prospects for developing

sugar clusters in Africa are, says

Omnicane’s CEO, “fantastic.

First of all, it is a food industry,

and secondly it provides energy,

which in terms of electricity

many regions desperately need.

Sugar plantations are very

environmentally-friendly, one of

the best carbon converters and

with substantial social benefits.”

The challenge for Mauritius,

says d’Unienville, is to be a

hub provding services for the

development of Africa and acting

as a link between Asia and Africa.

“Mauritius is in a very

privileged position between

two extremely dynamic zones;

Asia - with China and India the

economic engines - and Africa

with vibrant economies and

healthy growth rates.

“The cane industry is at the

centre of three very important

elements; food, energy, and

environment. Six years ago we

took the option of rising to a

great challenge: there was no

mid-way option. Now we are into

a very dynamic operational field

and very much right with our

timing.

“I am very passionate about

what we are doing and very

excited about it.”

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Head Offi ce - T: 204 7800 F: 204 7816 • Airport Offi ce - T: 603 7900 F: 603 7999 • www.mceasyfreight.mu

OMNICANE

00230 212 3251

WWW.OMNICANE.COM

www.littlegatepublishing.com

Omnicane

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