Sucrerie Africaine de Côte d’Ivoire has inaugurated the country’s first sugarcane distillery at its Ferké 2 sugar complex in the Hambol region, with Agriculture Minister Bruno Nabagné Koné presiding over the May 7 ceremony.
The facility cost CFA18 billion ($29.8 million) and carries an annual production capacity of 12 million liters of extra-neutral alcohol (ENA), a high-purity ethanol that crosses into spirits production, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Company projections put the distillery’s potential import displacement at roughly 50% of Côte d’Ivoire’s current alcohol import bill, a significant reduction for a country whose cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and food processing sectors have historically sourced nearly all their ethanol externally.
The plant runs on molasses, a byproduct of sugar refining drawn directly from SUCAF-CI’s adjacent Ferké 1 and Ferké 2 facilities. That feedstock integration eliminates raw material transport costs and converts what was previously a low-value residue into a commercially marketable product. SUCAF-CI produces approximately 120,000 metric tons of sugar per year, making it Côte d’Ivoire’s largest sugar producer. The Ferké 2 distillery is its second such facility within the group: Somdia, SUCAF-CI’s French parent and the agro-industrial arm of the Castel Group, opened a comparable plant in N’Kayi, Congo in late 2024.
According to company figures, the distillery is expected to generate around 100 direct jobs and 300 indirect positions, targeted primarily at youth in Ferkessédougou and surrounding communities in the country’s north. The facility was built in partnership with Indian distillation technology specialist PRAJ Group and sits on a 2.3-hectare site. Construction began in October 2024.
Côte d’Ivoire’s government framed the project as consistent with its PND 2026–2030 industrialisation agenda. Minister of Plan and Development Souleymane Diarrassouba, also present at the ceremony, noted that SUCAF-CI had hit 97% of its investment targets under a prior contract-plan with the state, and that sugar output had exceeded targets, reaching a record 130,194 metric tons in the 2023–2024 campaign. That track record is likely to support SUCAF-CI’s stated ambition to negotiate a new contract-plan with the government.
As Drinkabl.media has reported, West Africa’s alcoholic beverages market is projected to approach $22.21 billion by 2035, driven by rising demand across spirits, beer, and adjacent categories. Domestic ENA supply at scale positions Côte d’Ivoire’s beverage and pharmaceutical manufacturers to reduce import dependency at a structurally critical moment for the region’s drinks industry.
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