The Federal Government has adopted Phase II of its 10-year National Sugar Masterplan on Wednesday, with the objective of saving $350 million per year and creating 110,000 new employees.
Niyi Adebayo, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, made the announcement to State House journalists immediately after the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd. ), presided over the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. Adebayo also stated that the government hoped to save $65.8 million on ethanol imports while generating 400 megawatts of power.
According to him, public and private sector actors in the sugar trade, such as Dangote, BUA, and Golden Sugar, had generated 15,000 employment, and more efforts would be put into the national sugar strategy to promote self-sufficiency in the commodity.
“Today, my ministry brought a memo seeking the Council’s approval for the second phase of the National Sugar Masterplan. In 2012, the first phase of the sugar master plan was approved, lasting from 2012 to 2022.
“Today, the Council approved the extension from 2023 to 2033. That’s for another 10 years and the whole idea of the Sugar Masterplan is for the development of the sugar industry for self-sufficiency in sugar production.
“The plan has several policy measures or fiscal incentives to stimulate demand and attract private sector investment in the sugar industry. Part of the benefits of the sugar master plan is the local production of sugar. We have under phase one, four major investors investing in the industry. These are Dangote Sugar, BUA Sugar, Golden Sugar Company, which is a flour mill, and Care Africa Group, which bought the Baccita sugar mill.
“They have jointly created 15,000 jobs, and they have over almost 200,000 hectares of land that have been acquired for the production of sugarcane to enable them to produce sugar locally. So, Council approved phase two of the National Sugar Masterplan” he said.
He noted that the sugar master plan had witnessed many successes since it was first approved in 2012.
