▪︎Executive Secretary of NSDC, Mr. Kamar Bakrin
The National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), and the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) are Collaborating to drive in $3 billion investments into the sugar industry, under the National Sugar Masterplan (NSMP) Phase II (2023-2033).
This was the outcome of an investment meeting between the Executive Secretary of NSDC, Mr. Kamar Bakrin, and the NIPC boss, Mrs. Aisha Rimi.
At the meeting, Mr. Bakrin explained that the mandate of the Council revolves round the development of the sugar sector and the pursuit of self-sufficiency in sugar production.
He said that the National Sugar Masterplan (NSMP) Phase II whose implementation is crucial to the achievement of NSDC’s mandate requires a lot of local and foreign investments in the region of 3 billion dollars.
He emphasised that there is a need to attract new operators and investors into the sector in the areas of large scale commercial sugar farming, bulk water supply and irrigation, sugar processing factories, power generation, ethanol production and animal feed production.
“…There had been a lot of focus on Brazil while Caribbean countries like Jamaica and Barbados have a lot to offer Nigeria’s sugar industry.“
While seeking the support of his NIPC counterpart in getting the investments into the sector, Mr.Bakrin noted that the kind of investments that can stand the test of time and add value to the NSMP II implementation must be large in size, have patient capital and possess technical expertise.
Specifically, the NSDC helmsman proposed that the two agencies which are both under the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment can collaborate to “Develop Investment Theses and cutomised investment promotion package, “Identify investment targets,” and “Conduct investment roadshows.”
In her response, Mrs Rimi pledged the support of the Commission to the actualisation of NSDC’s mandate and the implementation of NSMP II.
Talking about foreign investments, she noted that there had been a lot of focus on Brazil while Caribbean countries like Jamaica and Barbados have a lot to offer Nigeria’s sugar industry.