The National Sugar Development Council says the new financing and project-preparation initiatives are designed to unlock investment, expand local production and cut Nigeria’s dependence on sugar imports….
Nigeria is stepping up efforts to transform its sugar industry, with the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) pursuing a $1bn engineering, procurement and construction-plus-finance agreement with China’s SINOMACH and deploying a N10bn project acceleration fund to prepare new investments for financing.
The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the NSDC, Kamar Bakrin, disclosed the initiatives when he received members of the Abuja Chapter of the Chartered Institute of Directors on a courtesy visit to the council’s headquarters in Abuja.
The push comes as Nigeria continues to rely heavily on imported sugar to meet domestic demand.
The country consumes about 1.8 million metric tonnes of sugar annually, while roughly $1bn is spent on imports each year, according to Bakrin.
The council believes expanding domestic production could retain a significant portion of that value within the Nigerian economy.
Bakrin said the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan 2.0 was developed to accelerate the country’s journey towards sugar self-sufficiency, with a target of producing about two million metric tonnes of sugar locally.
But he argued that Nigeria’s longstanding challenge in the sector is not a shortage of policies.
Rather, the problem has been the failure to execute existing plans effectively.
“We don’t lack policy. What we have struggled with is world-class execution,” Bakrin said.
He described the new master plan as an “acceleration mandate”, designed to shorten the time required to achieve self-sufficiency and build a stronger domestic sugar value chain.
The NSDC is also looking beyond the production of refined sugar, with the council seeking to develop a broader industrial ecosystem around sugarcane.
Bakrin said the crop can support multiple industries, including ethanol, animal feed and electricity generation.
The goal, he explained, is to ensure that sugarcane becomes the foundation for a wider bio-industrial economy rather than simply serving as a source of sugar.
This approach could create additional revenue streams for producers while expanding employment and industrial activity around sugar estates.
One of the major obstacles facing the sector, according to Bakrin, is the shortage of investment-ready projects.
To address this, the NSDC has established a N10bn Sugar Project Acceleration Fund with the Bank of Industry (BOI).
The fund is expected to finance feasibility studies and other project-preparation activities required to move greenfield sugar developments from early concepts to bankable projects capable of attracting large-scale capital.
Once projects become investment-ready, they are expected to feed into the $1bn EPC-plus-finance agreement with SINOMACH, creating a pathway for both construction and financing.
The council is also engaging Afreximbank and working with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to accelerate the development of sugar estates across the country.
Bakrin said the council is also overhauling the implementation of the Backward Integration Programme, particularly the conditions attached to import quotas.
The new approach will be built around four principles: qualify, reward, verify and enforce.
Companies seeking access to import quotas will have to demonstrate a credible commitment to developing local production capacity.
Major refiners will also be required to submit audited production commitments linked to the quotas they receive.
The NSDC plans to use satellite imagery and physical inspections to independently verify activities at project sites, reducing the sector’s reliance on companies’ self-reported progress.
The council believes stronger monitoring will help ensure that companies benefiting from import-related incentives actually deliver the investments and production capacity expected of them.
Smallholder farmers are another major part of the council’s strategy.
Through the Sugarcane Outgrower Development Programme, the NSDC intends to deepen the participation of farmers living around sugar-producing communities.
Bakrin said every sugar estate developed under the new master plan would be expected to set aside land for outgrowers.
Estates will also be required to invest in their host communities through employment, social infrastructure and other forms of physical development.
The approach is expected to create stronger links between large-scale sugar producers and smallholder farmers while expanding the pool of cane available to local mills.
Bakrin said the council’s engagements with Brazil and other major sugar-producing countries had reinforced the importance of strong institutions in building a globally competitive sugar industry.
He pointed to Brazil as an example of how institutional development can produce sustained gains in agricultural productivity.
“Brazil did not win by planting better cane. They won by building institutions that compounded productivity for years, for decades,” he said.
The NSDC is consequently developing Standard Operating Procedures for its key support functions, using Six Sigma methodology to create processes that are more consistent, measurable and repeatable.
Bakrin argued that institutional quality would ultimately determine whether Nigeria can turn its sugar ambitions into a sustainable industrial success.
“The difference between the countries that industrialised and those that did not rarely has to do with the quality of their plants. It is the quality of their institutions,” he said.
The NSDC has also invited the Chartered Institute of Directors to contribute to strengthening governance across sugar estates, mills and outgrower companies.
Bakrin said the institute could also play a role in policy discussions focused on attracting long-term investment into the industry.
Earlier, the leader of the CIoD delegation, Fatima Nana Mede, commended the council’s reform efforts and its drive to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported sugar.
She expressed the institute’s willingness to collaborate with the NSDC in areas of mutual interest.
With the combination of project-preparation financing, international construction funding, tighter regulation and greater participation by local farmers, the council is betting on a more coordinated approach to finally move Nigeria’s sugar industry from policy ambition to large-scale production.
