Nigerian Sugar Development Council, NSDC, says it is committed to making Nigeria a notable player in the global sugar trade through policies and strategies that will harness the abundant natural and material resources to ensure national self-sufficiency in sugar with surplus to export to earn foreign exchange. This is the council\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n
As regards vision, NSDC maintains that, it is out \u201cto accelerate the development and growth of the local sugar industry in order to achieve a target of at least 70 percent self-sufficiency in national sugar requirement by the year 2020\u201d.<\/p>\n
But when on Wednesday, 5th September, 2012, the BusinessDay newspaper reported that its investigations has revealed that the policy of backward integration being driven by the federal government is scoring low in sugar production in Nigeria, little did it know that massive activities were going on underground in order to take the sector to the next level.<\/p>\n
BusinessDay reports according to the neswspaper, was based on NSDC data, which stressed that \u201csugar importation accounted for 97 percent of the total sugar supply in the last ten years in Nigeria whose cost implication for the country amounts to N530 billion ($3.4 billion)\u201d.<\/p>\n
It was further pointed out that, \u201ctotal sugar produced locally in the same period was a mere 240,000 metric tons. Between 2002 and 2005 the country depended purely on sugar importation.\u00a0 Sugar consumption during the period in question was 11.3 million metric tons.<\/p>\n
\u201cLocal production during the period under review was only 8.5 percent of total sugar consumption while 91.5 percent was accounted for by importation. This implies that the sugar sector is nothing to write home about on the much-touted backward integration policy of the federal government.<\/p>\n
The country is not only losing $3.4 billion to importation of sugar, it is also losing 4000 jobs to the country where it imports sugar from.<\/p>\n
Industry sources are, however, worried that the current sugar importation policy in the country is inconsistent with the Federal Government\u2019s policy direction of restricting importation of basic food items, where there is enough local capacity to produce such products and meet national demand.<\/p>\n
At the same time efforts were seriously geared towards implementing Nigerian Sugar Master Plan, NSMP, whereupon the Economic Management Implementation Committee Team was expected to swing into action.<\/p>\n
The efforts has now yielded a massive dividend to the country as the Federal Government has approved the Nigerian Sugar Master Plan (NSPM), including a regime of fiscal and investment incentives, in order to make the country self-sufficient in sugar production.<\/p>\n
Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, and his counterpart in the Ministry of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, who briefed journalists after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting held at the Presidential villa Abuja yesterday, agreed that the adoption of the policy by the Federal Government was in line with its Backward Integration Policy (BIP), which has been implemented successfully in the cement production sector.<\/p>\n
BIP is type of vertical integration in which a consumer of raw materials acquires its suppliers, or sets up its own facilities to ensure a more reliable or cost-effective supply of inputs.
\nAccording to Aganga, there is no nation that develops successfully by relying on the importation of raw materials and products.<\/p>\n
It was widely reported that, lamenting that Nigeria is the fourth largest importer of sugar in the world, he said the apex government took the decision to approve the policy because of the strategic importance of the commodity in terms of provision of employment, source of energy and large scale saving of money for the country.<\/p>\n
According to Aganga, \u201cthe justification for the policy, is that the country will derive the following benefits: 1,797,000 tonnes of sugar annually; 161.2 million litres of ethanol annually; 400 MW of electricity annually; 1.6 million tonnes of animal feeds annually; 37,378 permanent jobs; USD65.8 million savings in forex on fuel imports annually; and USD350 million saving in forex on sugar imports annually.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to reverse the decline in the sub-sector, the NSMP has spelt out the sugar and ethanol projections required to achieve self-sufficiency in these commodities and indicated that the number of factories and sugarcane hectares, and number of skilled and unskilled staff required,\u201d a post-FEC document showed.<\/p>\n
The NSMP, which implementation will span the next 10 years, is conceived to entail many projects which would cover all geo-political zones of the country, thus the decision to implement and adopt it as \u201cgovernment\u2019s strategic road map for the development of the sugar sub-sector.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is to be done in order to order to stimulate investments in the sector and raise local production of sugar to meet national demand and reverse Nigeria\u2019s total dependence on imported sugar.<\/p>\n
The FEC, therefore, approved the package of general and BIP support incentives including zero per cent duty on the importation of machineries required to process the raw materials as well as support for all the three existing sugar companies in the country so that they will benefit from the implementation of the policy.<\/p>\n
The NSMP, which includes a regime of fiscal and investment incentives designed to help the country achieve self-sufficiency in sugar production, has been approved.<\/p>\n
Whereas it was wondered what could be the reason for embarking on the policy Dr. Aganga described the policy as a creation of a similar initiative that has led to constant, regular and consistent availability of products like cement throughout the country. With similar initiative in the sugar sub-sector Aganga said it is instructive to emphasise that hat the country only meets 10 per cent of its sugar needs, meaning a whopping N101bn has been spent on importing the commodity in the last two years.<\/p>\n
Aganga particularly observed that no nation hoping to develop can rely on importing raw materials and products. He expressed regrets that the country occupies the unenviable position of the fourth largest importer of sugar in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Federal Government took the decision to approve the policy because of the strategic importance of the commodity in providing employment, sourcing energy and large-scale financial economy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to reverse the decline in the sub-sector, the NSMP has spelt out the sugar and ethanol projections required to achieve self-sufficiency in these commodities and indicated that the number of factories and sugarcane hectares, and number of skilled and unskilled staff required.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NSMP, which implementation will span the next ten years, is conceived to handle many projects which would cover all geo-political zones of the country, thus the desiderata to implement and adopt it as \u201cgovernment’s strategic road map for the development of the sugar sub-sector.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also speaking, Maku enthused that the policy would stimulate investments in the sector and increase local production of the commodity in order to reverse Nigeria’s total dependence on imported sugar.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe FEC, therefore, approved the package of general and BIP support incentives, including zero per cent duty on the importation of machineries required to process the raw materials and support for all three existing sugar companies in the country so that they will benefit from the implementation of the policy,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
In a similar earlier instance, Dr. Aganga had advised directors-general, permanent secretaries and directors under the ministry to be performance focused at a forum put together for signing of performance contract with them, noted that their performance would be monitored jealously.<\/p>\n
He said the contract was in tandem with the directive of President Goodluck Jonathan, who had signed similar agreement with the ministers during which he told them that, they were expected to focus on how they could deploy human and financial resources for optimal performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you ask for a budget, you explain why and what are the benefits to the country because we were all appointed to serve the country,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
He advised the National Sugar Development Council to focus on backward integration, where raw materials were sourced locally.<\/p>\n
The minister urged the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission to work toward improving the investment climate in Nigeria to attract more investors.<\/p>\n
Aganga said the National Automotive Council should strive to reduce the number of vehicles imported into the country.<\/p>\n
He noted that Small and Medium Enterprises \u201care the drivers of any economy and should be encouraged to thrive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a new phase of the presidents transformation agenda and we must all support it.\u2019\u2019
\n\u2018Ministry of Trade and Investment will join the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to work as a team. We want to end the importation of rice and we want this to happen in the next three years. Also, sugar supply is compared to what we need and we want to address this using the backward integration policy.\u2019<\/p>\n
The Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Dr. Samuel Ortom, while lending his voice at the same event stressed the essence of the contract which he believed would determine those who were ready to deliver and those who were not.<\/p>\n
He recalled that the President had warned that ministers, who failed to perform, would be sanctioned, adding that same would apply to the signatories.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t perform, you will be sanctioned, the key performance indicator was done in consultation with you and you all made inputs; so there is no excuse for failure.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
The Director-General of ITF, Prof Longmas Wapmuk, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the contract was a wake-up call for everybody in the quest for the transformation Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Wapmuk said the president \u201cis in hurry to transform the country and should be supported fully\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
The Director-General of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Mr. David Adelugba, said it was time for the principals, who were not up and doing, to have a rethink with the aim of needed to increase productivity level.<\/p>\n
But wheras the goods in any country must be made to be produced in the right quality and quantity, Dr. Aganga disclosed during the inauguration of the Consumer Protection Council\u2019s Products and Services Listing and Monitoring Programme (Proserve) in Abuja that his ministry would intensify the fight against substandard products while vigorously pursuing the backward integration agenda across the country, in line with its Industrial Revolution Plan and Local Patronage Initiative.<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cThe present administration, led by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, attaches great importance to the development of our local industries. The main barriers to increased productivity of our local industries have been identified and we are already working on them. And one of the areas that have been identified has to do with sub-standard products. In fact, the President has asked for a presentation to be made to him at the Economic Management Team by the Directors General of Standards Organisation of Nigeria and the Consumer Protection Council on substandard products. This shows how seriously the President takes the issue of substandard goods.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ministers signed a performance contract with Mr. President and one of my Key Performance Indicators is to reduce the level of substandard products across the country. And within the next few weeks, I will be signing KPI contracts with the DGs of SON and CPC on the reduction of substandard products across the country. My target is , perhaps, to reduce the level of substandard products to about 30 per cent by the end of next year. But I am going to ask them to possibly reduce it to about 15 per cent. So, this is to assure Nigerians that the government is taking serious action against the substandard products.\u201d<\/p>\n
While noting with concern, the minister said in addition to reducing the current level of substandard products, his ministry\u00a0 had also\u00a0 embarked on policies and programmes\u00a0 aimed at promoting the patronage of made-in-Nigeria products.<\/p>\n
He added that the initiative would help to boost the productivity of local industries, create jobs and generate wealth for Nigerians.<\/p>\n
Aganga said, \u201cOvertime, we have made spirited efforts at the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment to promote the patronage of Made-in-Nigeria products and services. This is very important for a number of reasons: local patronage will enhance productivity of our industries and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises. This will increase the contribution of the manufacturing sector to the nation\u2019s Gross Domestic Product and also create wealth for our people.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when we patronise made-in Nigeria products, we are creating jobs for our brothers and sisters who are unemployed. If we buy made-in-Nigeria products, our manufacturers will produce more goods, make more money and employ more people. But when we buy products that are imported from other countries, we are creating jobs and generating wealth \u2013 not for Nigerians, but for people outside Nigeria. Therefore, by patronising made-in-Nigeria products, we are being patriotic and helping in playing a major role as job creators, which will ultimately reduce unemployment in our country. The overall objective of Proserve, among other things, is the elimination of fake and substandard products from the market and instill consumer confidence in locally-made goods .\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking during the event, the Director General of CPC, Mrs. Ify Umenyi, said the listing products through CPC\u2019s Proserve initiative would help eliminate substandard products and improve service delivery to Nigerian consumers.<\/p>\n
She said, \u201cThe listing exercise will create a matrix of genuine\u00a0 products and service providers in the marketplace thus identifying and eliminating fake , substandard, defective products and poor services\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Gena Lubem Nigerian Sugar Development Council, NSDC, says it is committed to making Nigeria a notable player in the global sugar trade through policies and strategies that will harness…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n