Sugar Sector Yields $3bn Investments in 10 Years, Says Adedeji

James Emejo in Abuja

The Executive Secretary, National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Mr. Zacch Adedeji, has said that the sugar sub-sector had attracted investments worth $3 billion within the last 10 years through the faithful implementation of the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP).

The NSDC boss also said the sector currently has five investors who have signed into the Backward Integration Programme (BIP) component of the master plan.

He spoke at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Saro Africa Group and the Nasarawa State government for a sugar project to be domiciled in Doma and Nasarawa Local Government Areas of the state.

The Saro Africa Group, which is the fifth investor in the sector had announced that the project would seat 15,000 hectares of land for the first phase and other phases to follow in due course.

Adedeji, however, underscored the strategic role the sugar sector plays in the economic diversification agenda of the federal government with agriculture as its key driver.

Adedeji said the MoU further underscored the confidence President Muhammadu Buhari has in the sector, which led to the extension of the master plan for another 10 years, beginning from 2023 to 2033, known as the NSMP Phase 2.

Adedeji, in a statement, Head, Public Affairs Unit, NSDC, Mr. Abdullahi Yunusa, said, “Today’s event is both historic and memorable for us both as regulators and operators of the sugar sector. This clearly demonstrates the confidence both government and the organised private sector have in the sector.

On his part, the Group Managing Director, Saro Africa Group, Mr. Rasheed Sarumi, who hinted that his company is desirous of contributing to the economic development of the state through the siting of its sugar and ethanol businesses in the state, thanked the governor for creating the enabling environment for private sector players to come in.

Sarumi said, “The governor has provided the vision, and our business as investors is to turn this vision into action. And this is the commitment I’ve made today. Saro Africa has been in Nasarawa state for years. We started the Saro transformation in 2017, which is to move from trading to a heavy agro-industrial value chain to be able to see the future. This will be our third project. The first we did was the sweetener value which cost us 45 million dollars and will be ready for commissioning in the first quarter of 2023.

“This investment in Nasarawa state is dear to us. We know from the history of the two projects I mentioned earlier there is a long gestation period and we are ready for the journey. Our readiness for the journey means that we will be totally embedded in the community.”