Our friend Ashraf Mahmoud, group chairman and CEO at Al Nouran, believes he can turn Egypt into an exporter of sugar instead of a net importer. Egypt has a number of advantages to help it become a sugar exporter, particularly if the country manages to cultivate more beets and apply new technologies that allow it to increase productivity per feddan, Mahmoud tells CNN Marketplace Africa (watch, runtime 4:44).

Al Nouran’s current strategy is focused on “using the Egyptian market as a platform to start addressing export markets,” he explains. As an integrated manufacturer with a new production facility in the works, “the sky’s the limit,” Mahmoud says, explaining that the first phase of Al Nouran’s new sugar refinery will house four production lines, each with the capacity to produce and refine 300k tonnes of sugar from beets. Once all four are online, the facility will become “one of the largest sugar production units in Africa,” he adds, noting that he believes Al Nouran can make up to EGP 4-5 bn a year vs. a current average of EGP 1.5 bn.

As a trader who traveled far up the value chain to become a manufacturer and grower of his main raw material, Mahmoud is a firm believer in gradual integration. Once Al Nouran’s new sugar production units are up and running, “we can look at other integrated industries like molasses, alcohol, biofuel, yeast, and fertilizer. There are a lot of opportunities in expanding.”