Nigeria’s sugar market is huge, but local players are few

Like almost every other thing Nigerians consume in large quantity and spend billions of naira to import every year, sugar, a basic yet somewhat essential commodity, is one of the many things the country has been unable to achieve self-sufficiency in its production.

Data provided by the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) on its website suggest sugar importation cost Nigeria $516 million in 2016, as the country continues to grapple with inability to scale up local production.

The Nigerian Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) noted that while Nigeria belongs to the International Sugar Organization – whose member-countries numbering 92 (at the time) represent 80 percent of total world sugar production, 81 percent of total world consumption, 64 percent of total sugar exports and 55 percent of sugar imports – the country only belongs to the category of sugar importers, where it ranked 4 in 2009. When compared to its African neighbours, Nigeria is the least food-secure in terms of sugar as most of its peers produce substantial proportions of their sugar requirements.

Implementation of the Nigerian Sugar Master Plan started in 2013, with a goal to effectively end sugar importation within 10 years, when Nigeria should have achieved self-sufficiency. As at last year, however, it was reported that Nigeria has achieved only 40.3 percent of the target set for attainment by the first half of the 10-year lifespan of the master plan.

Last month, Nigeria’s capacity for sugar production got a significant boost when Flour Mills of Nigeria’s N50-billion sugar production facility in Niger State was commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari. The facility is expected to improve the company’s capacity for backward integration towards the attainment of locally-produced and refined sugar.

Designed to have an output of 100,000 tonnes of sugar annually at full capacity, the facility occupies 16,000 hectares of land with a potential cane area of 5,000 hectares out of which 3,000 hectares is currently under cultivation. Majority of the area is enclosed within a 35-kilometre dyke offering flood protection from the River Niger where the sugarcane is cultivated under irrigation, making it an annual crop, and available for processing year-round.

Yet, the facility’s output, which, according to John Coumantaros, chairman, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, will “save Nigeria $100 million in foreign exchange every year”, is still a far cry from the country’s annual expenditure and requirements. There is a $500-million local market waiting to be filled but currently, it appears many companies are yet to fully take advantage of the opportunities in producing more sugar locally, retaining more of the foreign exchange used for importation, and putting the country in a position to be more self-sufficient.

CALEB OJEWALE

The writer can be reached via caleb.ojewale@ businessdayonline.com or +2348026689139