Nigeria needs $5b investment to attain sugar sufficiency
Nigeria’s sugar industry needs $5 billion to reach self-sufficiency within eight years, focusing on R&D, land development, and skill-building, according to National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) Secretary Kamar Bakrin. The plan targets local cultivation and aims to reduce dependency on imported sugar, which currently dominates Nigeria’s $2 billion sugar market. Bakrin highlighted sugar’s economic potential for Nigeria, with the industry poised to stimulate secondary economic activities and investments in rural infrastructure.
Nigeria would need to spend $5billion to attain self-sufficiency in sugar production over the next eight years.
The Executive Secretary, National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Kamar Bakrin, who made this known during an interactive session with the press in Lagos over the weekend, said the fund will be deployed to meeting several needed requirements in the sugar production value chain, including Research and Development (R&D), acquisition and preparation of lands for cultivation, training and human capital development and overheads, among others.
He said the NSDC treats sugar as an important economic commodity which production can be an important model of industrialisation and economic development in Nigeria, as in other sugar producing countries such as Brazil, India and Ethiopia, adding that cultivating and processing sugar cane provides livelihoods for a large number of people.
Bakrin said the sugar industry generates secondary economic activities in transport, equipment manufacturing, and retail and catalyses investments in rural areas through the construction of roads, power installations, educational institutions and health infrastructure.
“NSDC is committed to driving the sugar sector to achieving self-sufficiency within eight years,” Bakrin stated.
He said Nigeria’s sugar industry valued at about $2 billion, is heavily dependent on refining imported raw sugar, a practice that largely overshadows local production.
Bakrin stressed the need for the country to reduce its dependence on imported sugar and initiate measures towards strengthening domestic production.
He said the country is driving more aggressive expansion by existing players, enhance credible local and global business groups, and the establishment of commercial sugar cane growers
“ Internally, we are upgrading capacity for training manpower for the industry, creating local varieties, multiplying seed cane and driving best practices through extension services,” Bakrin said.
He urged potential investors and stakeholders in Nigeria’s sugar industry to reconsider their perceptions of the sector.
With the NSDC facilitating over $5 billion in new investment, there are increasing incentives to participate in Nigeria’s backward integration initiatives. At the heart of this push lies an unmet local demand of two million metric tons annually, with projections that the sugar deficit across Africa could surge to 13 million metric tons by 2030.
This growing demand, coupled with vast potential, provides fertile ground for Nigeria to step up as a significant sugar producer on the continent, he stated.
Source Link : https://thenationonlineng.net/nigeria-needs-5b-investment-to-attain-sugar-sufficiency/
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