The Executive Secretary/CEO of the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Mr. Kamar Bakrin, has shared the Council’s comprehensive plan for accelerated sugar project development in 2025 with the House of Representatives Committee on Industry.
Mr. Bakrin at the weekend said before the 2025 plans and the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) II can be achieved, certain loopholes in the establishment law must be addressed.
The Committee members who attended the retreat therefore agreed in principle to look at the law establishing the Council and make necessary amendments that will empower the Executive Secretary and his Management team to successfully pursue the advancement of the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) II.
“Our focus in 2024 has been on resetting the agenda and realigning the industry to the high expectations of Nigerians. For us, 2025 is the year of acceleration. This is not a choice but a must, given our macroeconomic realities and the tremendous benefits we know are possible from the cultivation and processing of sugarcane.
“Our key priorities for 2025 are to accelerate the pace of project development; facilitate investment of $5bn into the Sector; ensure our priority greenfield projects are ready for investment; and strengthen NSDC’s capacity to develop the sector,” he said.
Mr. Bakrin who resumed office on October 16, 2023 after his appointment by President Bola Tinubu, also shared with the Committee members how the journey has been in the last one year.
He noted that the NSMP II has a protected domestic market made attractive by a robust incentive framework which includes a Protective Tariff Regime that is consistent with the various protocols to which Nigeria is a signatory and meant to protect the market for investors who are implementing the BIP, use of an annual Raw Sugar Import Quota Allocation to determine how much sugar can be imported by the participants in the BIP and support of an extensive out-growers scheme to promote inclusiveness and sustainability and stimulate partnership with host communities of the sugar estates and projects amongst others.
Looking ahead, Mr Bakrin said: “These are exciting times for investors and stakeholders in Nigeria’s Sugar Industry. We have an unmet and growing local demand of 2million metric tons and a deficit in Africa that is expected to expand to 13mMT by 2030.