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From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) has projected annual foreign exchange savings of about $300 million by expanding local sugar production through structured, long-term financing partnerships.
The projection follows a strategic partnership between the NSDC and the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM Bank) aimed at unlocking development-oriented funding to drive large-scale transformation of Nigeria’s sugar industry.
Speaking during a meeting between both institutions in Abuja, the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of NSDC, Mr Kamar Bakrin, said the Council is deploying an Engineering, Procurement, Construction plus Financing (EPC+F) model to accelerate the development of bankable sugar projects capable of significantly reducing the country’s reliance on imports.
He noted that Nigeria’s sugar market is valued at approximately $2 billion, while the broader African market stands at about $7 billion. In addition, sugar by-products represent a domestic market exceeding $10 billion.
Bakrin explained that achieving self-sufficiency in sugar production requires patient, long-tenor capital deployed at scale, stressing that short-term financing cannot deliver the structural transformation needed in the sector.
“What the sector requires is patient, long-tenor financing deployed at scale and backed by policy certainty. By partnering with NEXIM Bank and international export credit partners, we are putting in place a financing architecture that allows serious investors to execute, not speculate,” he said.
Under the proposed framework, the NSDC will originate and develop policy-aligned, bankable projects while supporting equity mobilisation. NEXIM Bank, on its part, will anchor capital mobilisation by facilitating access to international Export Credit Agencies (ECAs), coordinating syndication with Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), supporting foreign input financing, and providing risk mitigation instruments, including guarantees and commercial risk insurance.
The EPC+F model has already been deployed through an existing partnership with SINOMACH, a Chinese engineering conglomerate. According to Bakrin, financing of up to $1 billion has been structured on competitive terms to fast-track large-scale sugar projects nationwide.
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He stated that, beyond the projected $300 million annual foreign exchange savings through import substitution, the model is expected to create over 50,000 jobs across the sugar value chain and deliver up to 25 per cent import substitution within five to ten years.
Bakrin also outlined measures taken to de-risk investments in the sector, including ongoing efforts to codify the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) into law through amendments to the NSDC Act to guarantee policy continuity and investor protection.
He added that stricter enforcement is underway to curb smuggling and the influx of cheaper imported products that undermine local production.
Large-scale sugar projects, he said, are structured to generate employment across farming, processing, logistics and ancillary services, with embedded outgrower schemes designed to integrate smallholder farmers into commercial value chains and boost rural incomes.
He further noted that sugarcane cultivation aligns with environmental sustainability goals, serving as a renewable crop and year-round carbon sink, while supporting value-added co-products such as ethanol and bioelectricity.
Responding, the Managing Director of NEXIM Bank, Mr Abba Bello, described the initiative as strategic to Nigeria’s economic diversification and export development agenda.
He expressed the bank’s readiness to explore structured partnerships that would unlock long-term financing, strengthen local value chains and enhance Nigeria’s competitiveness in regional and international markets.
Bello commended the execution-focused approach adopted by the NSDC and reaffirmed NEXIM Bank’s commitment to supporting viable export-oriented and import-substitution projects aligned with national development priorities.
