NSDC targets sugar self-sufficiency with $1bn investment, N10bn fund

 The National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) is targeting sugar self-sufficiency through a one billion dollars investment partnership and N10 billion acceleration fund.

The Executive Secretary of NSDC, Mr Kamar Bakrin, said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

Bakrin spoke recently when he received the Abuja Chapter of the Chartered Institute of Directors (CIoD) on a courtesy visit.

He said the Council was repositioning Nigeria’s sugar industry as a major investment opportunity under the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) 2.0.

He said Nigeria consumed about 1.8 million tonnes of sugar annually, with about one billion dollars spent on imports.

According to him, NSMP 2.0 targets production of about two million tonnes of sugar locally.

“We do not lack policy. What we have struggled with is world-class execution,” Bakrin said.

He said the Council had strengthened the Backward Integration Programme to ensure that companies receiving import quotas demonstrate genuine production commitments.

Bakrin said satellite imagery and field inspections would be used to independently verify sugar production activities.

He said the N10 billion Sugar Project Acceleration Fund, established with the Bank of Industry, would finance feasibility studies and project preparation.

“The initiative will create a pipeline of bankable projects capable of accessing the one billion dollars Engineering, Procurement and Construction-plus-finance agreement with SINOMACH of China,” he said.

Bakrin said the council was also engaging Afreximbank and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to accelerate sugar estate development nationwide.

He said sugarcane could produce sugar, ethanol, animal feed and electricity, making it an important foundation for Nigeria’s bio-industrial development.

“We have been blessed with a crop that is one of the most generous God has ever made,” he said.

Bakrin said the council would also prioritise farmers and host communities through the Sugarcane Outgrower Development Programme.

He said the programme would ensure sugar estates reserve land for outgrowers and invest in host communities.

The NSDC boss urged the CIoD to support stronger corporate governance across sugar estates, mills and outgrower companies.

Earlier, CIoD Abuja Chapter leader, Mrs Fatima Mede, commended NSDC’s reforms and pledged the Institute’s collaboration in developing the sugar industry