The approval by the Federal Executive Council of the second phase of the National Sugar Masterplan, a ten-year plan billed would save $350m annually and create 110,000 jobs.
Apart from the forex savings and job creation targets from the second phase of the masterplan, Nigeria also looks forward to saving $65.8m on ethanol import and generate 400 megawatts of electricity.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo who revealed this after last week’s FEC meeting listed Dangote, BUA, Golden Sugar mills, among key stakeholders jointly owning about 200,000 hectares of sugarcane plantation in the country.
The minister said: “Today, my ministry brought a memo seeking Council’s approval for the second phase of the National Sugar Masterplan. In 2012, the first phase of the sugar master plan was approved, lasting from 2012 to 2022.
“Today, Council approved the extension from 2023 to 2033. That’s for another 10 years and the whole idea of the Sugar Masterplan is for the development of the sugar industry, for self-sufficiency in sugar production.”
