When Tony Dahl, the owner of “Better ‘Ole” Farm, planted a few pieces of cane that a friend had brought back from Natal, South Africa, he could not have envisioned that 60 years later the cane would grow into a huge sugar estate at Nakambala in Mazabuka and turn into a major world-class business operation. Today, Zambia Sugar, the successor to “Better ‘Ole” produces in excess of 400 000 tons of sugar annually, translating into around K2 billion in annual revenues.

Ironically, Dahl would be pleasantly surprised at the phenomenal growth of the company in a challenging environment since pre-Independence, to become the largest sugar producer in Zambia and the second largest single sugar mill in Africa with over 6 000 employees at peak, and the field of cane he started having grown into the present day Nakambala Estate with an estate population exceeding 16 000.