Bayo Akomolafe 
Importers are battling to secure the delivery of 1.61 million tonnes of sugar ordered for in 2024 as only 255,985 tonnes valued at N251 billion ($179.2 million) of the commodity were offloaded by six vessels at the port in the first five months of the year. The consignment is 15.8 per cent of the 1.61 million tonnes of raw sugar ordered from Brazil valued at $1.2 billion for industrial and domestic use in 2024 as price of the commodity hits $700 per tonne.
Findings from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)’s shipping data indicated that only one vessel, Sea Diamond, berthed with 49,000 tonnes in May 2024 at the Greenview (GNDL) Development Nigeria Limited, Lagos Port. In April, Genco Predator offloaded 46,650 tonnes at the same terminal while Desert Victory laden discharged 53,215 tonnes at Apapa Bulk Terminal Limited (ABTL) in April 2024. Also, three vessels berthed with the commodity at Lagos Port Complex between January and March 2024 at ABTL and GNDL.
At the port’s ABTL, Desert Spring berthed with 53,250 tonnes, while at GDNL, Bulk Bahamas and Helsinki Eagle offloaded 48,750 tonnes and 49, 000 tonnes respectively. Recall that the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) had said that it would amend its Act to adequately support sectoral growth of sugar and instill confidence among investors as Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc (DSR) said that it would commit over $700 million on sugar production under the Backward Integration Programme (BIP).
The company is also planning to produce 700,000 metric tonnes of refined sugar from locally grown sugarcane in the next four years under the BIP. The Chairman of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Aliko Dangote, said at the company’s 18th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos that the 700,000 metric tonnes would meet 50 per cent of the current market demand for refined sugar, adding that in alignment with the policy guidelines of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the company would focus on and enhance its BIP by deploying and reviewing project strategies to ensure efficient delivery.
According to him, the 10-year sugar development plan to produce 1.5 million tonnes of sugar per annum from locally grown sugarcane remains a roadmap to attaining the company’s objectives. In 2023, the country imported $641.36 million worth of sugar from Brazil, while China took delivery of $1.69 billion and Algeria, $773 million in the same period. Meanwhile, the Federal Government had said that investments ranging between $3 billion and $5 billion under Phase II of the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) was being anticipated in 10 years.
This is after the first plan, spanning 10 years yielded no result. The Executive Secretary of NSDC, Kamar Bakrin, explained that the initiative aligned with the President’s dedication to achieving the NSMP’s objectives of attaining self-sufficiency in sugar production, fostering job creation, and advancing industrialisation. During a gathering of the Sugar Industry Monitoring Group in Abuja, the executive secretary noted that the plan was designed to achieve a minimum production capacity of 2 million tonnes of sugar, generating 400 MW of electricity and fostering the creation of 110,000 jobs throughout the entire value chain in the country.
Bakrin stressed that NSMP II necessitates between 200,000 and 250,000 hectares of suitable land and an estimated investment of $3.5 billion. Initiated in 2012, NSMP is a policy designed to catalyse domestic production by incentivising investment in the industry through backward integration programmes and tax benefits.
