SOSUMO

Société Sucrière du MOSO, SOSUMO

Industry	Sugar production
Headquarters	Gihofi, Rutana Province , Burundi
Headquarters Headquarters (Burundi)
Website	www.sosumo-burundi.com

SOSUMO (Société Sucrière du MOSO) is a company that grows and refines sugar in Burundi.

The company operates in the Rutana Province in the southeast of Burundi. This is in the Moso natural region of Burundi. The area is fed by the Muyovozi River, Mutsindozi River and Maragarazi River on the border with Tanzania. The complex is fed by the Mutsindozi River.^[1]

The third five-year plan for economic and social development of Burundi, issued in the early 1970s, include the Moso sugar project to improve the economy of the southeast region.^[2] The project would also save foreign currency by avoiding the need to import sugar.^[3]

The Moso Sugar Company (SOSUMO) was created on 13 July 1982 as a Private Law Mixed Economy Company (SARL). The State of Burundi held 21,250 shares, and 100 shares each were held by the Brasseries et Limonaderies du Burundi (BRARUDI) and the Société Burundaise de Financement (SBF).^[1]

SOSUMO was given a 5,800 hectares (14,000 acres) concession, about half of which was in marshy areas. Construction of the SOSUMO complex was assigned to the Netherlands company HVA in 1986. The civil engineering works and factory construction were subcontracted to Krupp, a German company.^[1]

In 2015 SOSUMO increased its sugar production to 23,000 tonnes. It had averaged 20,000 tonnes annually, of which 5,000 tonnes were experted. The company paid almost US$13 million to the state through taxes and duties, and saved about US$22.5 million in foreign exhcange. It contributed 3% to Burundi's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).^[4]

A government decree of September 2016 established a steering committee to audit and revitalize SOSUMO.^[5]

As of 2018 the company was only able to produce 23,000 tons of sugar per year, while the demand was for 35,000 tons, some of which had to be imported. The company did not have the capital needed to rehabilitate its equipment and agricultural machinery, or to expand its factory and sugar cane plantations. In November 2018 the Burundian parliament therefore voted by 100 to 1 to change the management structure and allow private investors to acquire 53.68% of the share capital for US$20 million. The government would retain the right to set the sales price of sugar.^[3]

In December 2019 SOSUMO velidated a study by experts from the Institute of Agronomic Sciences of Burundi (ISABU) that recommended using new techniques and types of fertilizer to boost production. The authors noted that the existing system had been unchanged for thirty years. SOSUMO agreed to now use organic fertiliser produced by FOMI, which would reduce costs, including foreign currency costs.^[6]

In May 2022 Emmanuel Sinzohagera, Speaker of the Senate, visited Rutana Province and met executives of SOSUMO in the Commune of Bukemba to discuss plans for expansion and modernization of their operations, which were underway to meet growing demand. He also visited Kayero Hospital, run by the United Methodist Church in Burundi.^[7]

In September 2022 SOSUMO was undertaking work to expand its fields in Rutana and Makamba provinces by 526 hectares (1,300 acres), which would let the company expand production to 35,000 tonnes of sugar annually. The factor would also have to be expanded and equipped with modern equipment, and SOSUMO was seeking funding for this, but in the interim planned to repair the boilers after the production campaig ended in December.^[8]

In March 2023 it was decided to expropriate rice farmers in the Mukazye, Mazimero, Gatonga, Kinwa and Nyamikungu marshes of the Commune of Giharo, Rutana Province, and transfer the fields to SOSUMO to grow sugar cane. This plan was later suspended.^[9]

In August 2023 Evariste Ndayishimiye, President of Burundi, met with wholesale sugar traders who distributed sugar from SOSUMO and called on them to stop speculating in sugar. He recommended that SOSUMO monitor the amounts delivered to wholesalers through distributors to retailers, and punish any unauthorized trading. Only 570 of the 817 wholesalers recognized by Sosumo attended the meeting. The president removed wholesalers who did not attend from the list of authorized SOSUMO wholesalers unless they were sick.^[10]

In 2024 SOSUMO was in talks with the Sarrai Group of Uganda over a possible partnership. On 4 April 2024 the Managing Director of SOSUMO told workers that the date of 18 April for the start of the partnership given by the Ministry of Commerce was incorrect, since they were still at the stage of assessing the assets of SOSUMO and negotiating on terms of partnership. At the same meeting, the Managing Director told the workers that the Indian company that was to repair the broken boiler, turbo-alternator and centrifuge had been slow to arrive, which would delay the start of the sugar production campaign.^[11]