Omnicane chief executive officer Jacques d'Unienville said the sugar factory will be situated in the south of Kenya's port city of Mombasa and will initially access 17,000 acres of sugar cane.

The project will also include the construction of an 18- megawatt bagasse power plant and a 30,000-litre ethanol production plant.

"The project is in line with our vision to consolidate further our presence in the sugar and energy sector. It will also help in the internationalisation of our operations," d'Unienville said.

The firm's first half pretax profit rose 8 percent to 33.7 million Mauritius rupees ($1.2 million).

Copyright Reuters, 2010