The executive secretary, National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Mr. Zacch Adedeji, said the nation’s sugar sub-sector has in the last 10 years attracted investments worth 3 billion dollars through the faithful implementation of the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP).
The NSDC boss added that the sector has five investors who have signed into the Backward Integration Programme component of the master plan.
Mr. Adedeji while underscoring the strategic role the sugar sector plays in the economic diversification agenda of the federal government with agriculture as its key driver, stated that the sector through the BIP operators has provided job opportunities for thousands as factory engineers, irrigation experts, plant operators, technicians, laboratory technologists among other professionals offering direct or indirect labour.
“The sugar sector as today has five operators who have signed unto the Backward Integration Programme of the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan. The companies are Dangote Sugar Refinery, BUA Sugar Refinery, Golden Sugar Refinery, KIA Africa Group and the latest being the Saro Africa Group,” he said.
The NSDC boss stated this today during 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 has announced that the project would seat on 15,000 hectares of land for the first phase and other phases would follow in due course.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Adedeji said the MoU signing ceremony between Saro and Nasarawa State has further underscored the confidence President Muhammadu Buhari has in the sector which led to the extension of the master plan by another 10 years, beginning from 2023 to 2033 known as the NSMP Phase 2.
“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.
“We are talking about an investment that would take thousands of our people in the two local government areas in Nasarawa state off the labour market as well as change the economic fortunes of communities, towns and villages hosting the multi-million dollar project. This is in line with our aspiration as the regulator and developer of the sugar sector. It is largely about taking real development to our people, especially those who are in the village
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