Johannesburg - Illovo Sugar plans to spend about 6 billion rand over the next five years to boost sugar production in Africa to 2.5-2.7 million tonnes from 1.7 million, the Business Day reported on Monday.

Illovo, a unit of Associated British Foods and Africa's biggest producer of the sweetener, also plans to rationalise its operations in South Africa due to a drop in land available for sugar cane production, reports said.

Quoting Managing Director Graham Clark, the paper said the company had set a target of a minimum 20 percent return on its investments to achieve the expansion.