Nigeria targets sugar self-sufficiency with $1 billion pipeline, N10 billion fund
By Aboki Forex —
The National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) is pushing to end Nigeria's reliance on imported sugar, using a $1 billion investment partnership and a N10 billion fund to lift local production. Executive Secretary Mr. Kamar Bakrin disclosed this during a courtesy visit by the Abuja Chapter of the Chartered Institute of Directors (CIoD), according to a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja.
Current consumption and target
Nigeria consumes about 1.8 million tonnes of sugar annually and spends roughly $1 billion each year on imports. Bakrin said the Council is repositioning the industry under the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) 2.0, with the goal of raising domestic production to approximately 2 million tonnes.
“We do not lack policy. What we have struggled with is world-class execution,” Bakrin said. He explained that the Backward Integration Programme (BIP) has been strengthened so companies benefiting from import quotas make verifiable investments in local sugar production. To monitor compliance, the NSDC will deploy satellite imagery and field inspections across project sites.
N10 billion fund and SINOMACH deal
The recently launched N10 billion Sugar Project Acceleration Fund, established with the Bank of Industry (BOI), will finance feasibility studies, project preparation and other pre-investment activities. According to Bakrin, the initiative is designed to create a pipeline of bankable projects capable of accessing the $1 billion Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Finance (EPC+F) agreement signed with Chinese industrial giant SINOMACH.
“The initiative will create a pipeline of bankable projects capable of accessing the $1 billion Engineering, Procurement and Construction-plus-finance agreement with SINOMACH of China,” he said. The NSDC is also engaging Afreximbank and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to accelerate the development of sugar estates across the country.
Industrialisation, outgrowers and governance
Bakrin described sugarcane as a strategic crop with multiple industrial uses, including ethanol, animal feed and electricity, making it central to Nigeria’s bio-industrialisation agenda. “We have been blessed with a crop that is one of the most generous God has ever made,” he said.
The Sugarcane Outgrower Development Programme will require sugar estates to allocate land for smallholder farmers and invest in host communities. Bakrin also called on the Chartered Institute of Directors to support stronger corporate governance across sugar estates, mills and outgrower companies.
The NSDC and BOI fund is not a grant programme but a structured, performance-driven facility with clear eligibility requirements. The wider sugar push complements the Federal Government’s recent approval of a N250 billion facility for the Bank of Agriculture to give smallholder farmers credit at single-digit interest rates.
For the naira, cutting sugar imports means less foreign exchange spent on a major food item. For Nigerian businesses and farmers, a thriving local sugar value chain could open opportunities in ethanol, animal feed and power generation.