CBN restricts sugar importation to Flour Mills, Dangote, BUA

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has licensed three firms to exclusively import sugar into Nigeria.

The licence restricts all dealers from accessing foreign exchange for sugar importation.

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The firms are Dangote, BUA and Golden Sugar, owned by Flour Mills.

All three also possess capability to refine sugar.

In a public statement published on Friday on its website, the CBN Director of Trade & Exchange O. S. Nnaji, said the approval of the import license which is in line with the Federal Government National Sugar Master Plan to encourage and incentivize sugar refining companies in their backward integration programme for local sugar production followed a review of the three companies’ achievement of reasonable progress on the policy in the sector.

Consequently, the CBN said all authorized dealers shall not open Form M or access foreign exchange in the Nigerian foreign exchange market for any company, including the three companies, for the importation of sugar into the country without prior and express approval from it.

Under the Nigerian Sugar Master Plan by the Federal Government through the National Sugar Development Council, the CBN is mandated to monitor the implementation of the backward integration programmes of all the companies.