Nigeria : We’re Removing Impediments to Sugar Production, NSDC Boss Assures Stakeholders
The National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) is intensifying efforts to boost domestic sugar production, Executive Secretary Kamar Bakrin said at a recent tripartite meeting. He cited challenges such as FTZ loopholes, equipment clearance delays, smuggling, and local resistance. Amendments to the NSDC Act aim to address these issues and attract new investments into the sugar sector.
The Executive Secretary/CEO of the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Mr. Kamar Bakrin, has assured critical stakeholders in the Sugar industry that the council is working tirelessly to remove every impediment affecting the full production of sugar in the country.
Speaking at a tripartite meeting involving the agency, alongside the Ministry of Industry, Trade and investment and the major BIP operators, the NSDC boss said the Council has elevated performance monitoring and oversight of the Backward Integration Programme (BIP) operators beyond what the Sugar Industry Monitoring Group (SIMOG) used to do.
According to him, NSDC under his watch has emphasised robust, one-on-one, physical and virtual engagement with the operators, giving them targets and following up on deliverables.
On the feedback he has obtained from the operators, Bakrin, told the gathering, chaired by the Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, that: “The operators have complained about the existing loopholes in the free trade zone regime, which they believe certain participants in the NSMP have exploited.
“They also cited delays in the clearing of equipment at the ports, smuggling of sugar into the country, and host community resistance to the expansion of their BIP programmes as the primary causes of the delays in their BIP execution. The loopholes in the FTZ regime are being addressed by the ongoing amendment of the NSDC Act by the National Assembly.
“The amendment process, which has involved engagements with the relevant National Assembly Committee and key stakeholders, among other objectives, addresses the concern of the BIP operators and also makes the industry more attractive to other investors.”
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Source : This Day
