Sugar masterplan could fetch Nigeria over N289bn — Dangote

The National Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) is designed to fetch Nigeria foreign exchange in excess of $700million (N289 billion) yearly from the Backward Integration component of the plan.

Chairman of Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR) Plc, Aliko Dangote made this disclosure when he received some businessmen on a visit to DSR in Lagos.

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He however warned that the BIP scheme must be protected to insulate the Nigerian economy to be able to achieve the twin objectives of local manufacturing and job creation.

“If the national sugar master plan is followed strictly and the players all follow the rules, the country will be better for it as Nigeria will save between $600 million and $700 million annually as forex,” he said.

The Executive Secretary of the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Mr Zacch Adedeji, recently said that Nigeria can bridge the 11 million metric tons of sugar demand in Africa annually if the country succeeds in the ongoing Backward Integration Plan (BIP) in the sugar sector.

Mr Adedeji said Nigerians consume 1.7 million metric tons of sugar annually and 250 metric hectares of land must be cultivated to meet the demand.