Nigeria Needs 250,000ha Cultivation To Stop 1.7mmt Sugar Imports, Says FG
The Federal Government has said that the country will need to develop 250,000 hectares of land for sugar cane cultivation to source additional 1.7 million metric tonnes for its sugar sufficiency.
Nigeria has an annual sugar demand of about 3mmt but has an installed capacity of 1.25mmt, leaving a gap of 1.75mmt which it sourced through imports, using the scarce foreign exchange to fully meet her industrial and domestic use.
Speaking on the implementation of the Nigerian Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) adopted as the government’s strategic road map to facilitate the efficiency of self-sufficiency in sugar production, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo said that getting the additional 250,000 hectares of land will deepen sugar production in the country and help to create 110,000 jobs under the NSMP and also helps to eliminate the annual demand of $700 million in foreign exchange (forex) for the importation of raw sugar and refilled.
In addition, about 1.8MMT of raw sugar will be produced, 411.7MW of electricity, 161.2M litres of ethanol and 1.6MMT of animal feeds annually.
While speaking on the country’s Backward Integration Programme (BIP), Adebayo explained that the Super Four firms in the BIP have all made giant strides towards Nigeria’s attainment of sugar self-sufficiency.
The Big Four are Savannah Sugar Company in Adamawa State owned by Dangote Sugar Refinery. Sunti Golden Sugar Estate in Niger State-owned by Golden Sugar Company, a subsidiary of Flour Mills Plc. Lafiaji Sugar company in Kwara State-owned by BUA company and Nigerian Sugar Company, Basta, in Kwara State, was recently acquired by the KIA Group.
According to him, these operators have created over 15,000 jobs at their BIP sites, developed over 20,000 hectares of land and put over 12,000 hectares of land under cane.
“This is a multi-year capital intensive phase which requires consistent cash flows and patient capital. The industry, therefore, required the right type of investors with adequate capital and cash flows to make and sustain the investments. Well to make the cost of developing 10,000 hectares of lands for sugar cane production at $120/million. This account for a huge percentage development cost of the entire value chain.
He continued, “Certainly, this helps to further appreciate and justify the Presidential intervention that has been made in this sector.
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