As an Illovo Sugar Africa subsidiary, our business is conducted in accordance to Group’s values which form the foundation of our goals and objectives at country level and within the Illovo Sugar Africa Group. In alignment with Group, we are committed to operating in accordance with the highest legal and ethical standards whilst achieving the highest standards of corporate governance by pursuing adherence to international best practice. Ubombo Sugar further embraces being a responsible corporate citizen by maintaining and developing appropriate ethical, safety, health, environmental, enterprise risk and quality management standards as an integral part of our business.
Our Agriculture operation is tasked with the responsibility of contributing to increasing the profitability of Ubombo Sugar by being the leading, most cost-efficient producer and supplier of sucrose in the region. This entails consistently achieving high sucrose yields that underpin profitability and strong cash flow, production of good quality cane to maximize factory recoveries, and achieving operational excellence to reduce cost of production.
Through our Agriculture operation, we are able to manage over 11 000 hectares of land and produce 1 million tons of cane. The balance of the cane volume (1.2 million) required by the Factory is sourced from private growers. The Agriculture operation provides expertise in Crop Production, Agricultural Optimization, Agricultural Engineering, Grower Agriculture and Risk Management.
The Ubombo Sugar factory is the oldest sugar mill in the country with an installed crushing capacity of 500 TCH (Tons of cane/hour), allowing for the crushing of 2.2 million tons of sugar cane. Ubombo Sugar's mill annually produces approximately 250 000 tons of sugar (258 706 tons in 2021), of which 95 000 tons is refined sugar.
In 2020, the Eswatini Sugar Association invested over E100 million for the construction of a warehouse and bagging plant within the Ubombo factory. The facility has a 500-ton bagging capacity feeding Very High Pol (VHP) direct consumption sugar through a1-ton bagging station and two 50kg bagging stations. The new warehouse has a storage capacity of 11 000 tons for the 1-ton VHP bags and 9 000 tons for the 50kg bags.
Following the commissioning of the power generation project (Cogeneration) in 2011, Ubombo produces 165 Giga Watt Hours (GWh) of electricity, of which 60 GWH is exported to the national grid. In generating renewable electricity, the mill uses steam generated through a 25 Mega Watt Turbo Alternator fuelled primarily by bagasse and biomass from sugar cane.
Our Finance function is the lifeblood of the organization and plays an integral role in the sustainability of our business through sound financial management, international standards, and governance best practices aligned to King IV.
We pride ourselves as cross-functional business partners to our internal stakeholders with the ultimate goal of maximizing operational efficiencies and shareholder value.
“The department with personal touch” as it is affectionately known, is responsible for the attainment of Ubombo’s strategic objectives through the management of the company’s workforce. This is done through recruitment and selection, learning and development, services and rewards, employee wellness, and performance management.
Our Human Resources department works on the delivery of the best Human Resources services that help optimise business performance and improve productivity, ensuring best practice standards and integrated systems usage/compliance.
The Business Improvement function works on identifying, analyzing, and developing strategic plans for initiatives driving long-term performance to full potential. This section is the lead and embedder of an optimization mindset across the value chain, providing support to company management in the delivery of strategies and execution of change.
The Corporate Affairs function is a central function that houses commercial activities, ESG, communication and external stakeholder management under a strategic executive role. The function’s mandate is to help play an integral part in our strategic objective to foster a close relationship with surrounding communities, enhance our corporate reputation and manage critical external stakeholder relations consistent with our commitment of creating thriving communities.
The Estate Support Function is responsible for establishing and managing support services to sustain the wellbeing of employees and residents of the Ubombo estate. This is made possible through the provision of community services such as housing, civic services, estate maintenance, environmental stewardship, and provision of medical services through the Ubombo Sugar Hospital. The hospital provides medical services to Ubombo Sugar employees, their dependents, and the public. Our Medical Services section also coordinates the establishment and enhancement of public-private partnerships to enhance the provision of medical services to the community.