The executive secretary, National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Zacch Adedeji says the Federal Government’s policy roadmap on sugar has generated over N250 billion investments in the economy.
The policy roadmap is captured under the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP), a 10-year blueprint designed to revitalise the sector and make the country a net exporter of the commodity.
The NSMP is a 10-year ambitious and well-thought-out policy framework for the sugar sector which seeks to bring about an overhaul of the sector to enable Nigeria become self-sufficient in sugar production, create direct and indirect jobs, generate electricity, become a notable global sugar producer as well as produce ethanol for industrial use and utilisation.
The federal executive council had at its 37th meeting held on September 19, 2012, approved the NSMP for implementation and adoption as a government strategy roadmap for the development of the sugar sub-sector. Actual implementation began in 2013.
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According to Adedeji, seven years into the policy and three more years to go, the sector has attracted over N250 billion worth of investments through its backward integration programme. Only recently a new investor, KIA Group Africa completed the process of acquiring the defunct Nigeria Sugar Company (NISUCO) in Bacita, Kwara State and has since commenced work. The KIA Group now joins existing industry players like the Dangote Group, BUA Group and the Flour Mills to drive the BIP component of the NSMP.
He said the new owner has set its eyes on producing at least 300,000 metric tonnes of sugarcane, refining an estimated 204,000 metric tons of the sweet commodity, and generating N46 billion revenue by 2027.
He further added that a workforce of about 20,000 employees would be engaged to drive the company towards optimum production and ensure economic growth of the country. Also, another major player in the industry, Flour Mills Limited recently signed a multi-millionaire agreement with the Nasarawa state government to build a factory in Toto LGA of the state. The new project is in addition to the company’s N50 billion Golden Sugar estate in Sunti Niger State which was commissioned in 2018 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to Ahmed Waziri, a director in the executive secretary’s office, in a statement, Adedeji restated the government’s readiness to build a globally competitive sugar industry that would boost local economy, provide jobs for Nigeria’s teeming youth population and position Nigeria as a net exporter of the commodity.
On perennial disagreements and clashes over land between host communities and sugar operators, Adedeji said the council has engaged stakeholders on how best to address the issue. “We have found a solution to the problem. We now have a body known as the Forum of Sugar Producing States, headed by my elder brother and leader, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa state. The body comprised governors across sugar producing belts in the country. Their major role is to help provide land for sugar projects in their respective states, thereby putting an end to frequent clashes arising from land ownership between communities and sugar operators”.
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