The National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) is collaborating with the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) in a bid to boost the sugar investment drive in Nigeria.
While receiving a delegation from the ACCI in Abuja, the Executive Secretary of the Council, Mr Kamar Bakrin, said, “We execute our mandate through what is termed the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP), which is in its second phase.
“The NSMP is a ten-year blueprint geared towards self-sufficiency in sugar production. The target is for us to be able to produce 2 million metric tonnes of sugar annually, which covers the current annual consumption of about 1.8 million tonnes.
“So that is essentially what the objective of the NSMP II, as it is known. It is predicated on about seven pillars. And I think this is important, given the fact that as the key platform for private sector operators, it’s important to look at how potentially the Chamber can also key into different aspects of this. We have identified several critical pillars. I am not going to go through all of them, but rather focus on a handful of them that are important towards the achievement of our mandate.”.
He explained that the identification and operationalisation of viable sites for both the growing of sugarcane and the production. “That is very important thing for us.
“Part of what we are doing in that regard is a comprehensive nationwide survey of the most viable sites for growing cane, as well as the establishment of a robust technology platform for tracking the various attributes of the sites that are so identified.
“Also, probably the most important relevant aspect to you is the attraction of credible players into the sector who can embark on sugar production, which is actually a very, very sustainable opportunity. We have seen this demonstrated without any doubt in countries such as Tanzania, Senegal, and so on and so forth that have recently embarked on similar programmes with incredible success.
“Then there is also the mobilisation of the right kind of funding. We estimate that the sector requires about $5 billion. So, one of the key roles of the council is to facilitate the mobilisation of the funding required, both in terms of equity as well as project finance or debt.”.
The ES stated that NSDC takes ACCI very seriously and “we expect that we will be able to key into some of your activities and that they will actually lead to fruitful partnerships with the Council, I mean, the various parties that ACCI represents, as well as those interests that we are seeking to promote on our side.”
On his part, the ACCI president, Barr. Emeka Obegolu, SAN, said they were in the Council to seek the sort of partnership and collaboration that will add value to the mandate of the NSDC.
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