The ExecutiveThe Executive Secretary/CEO of the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Mr. Kamar Bakrin, has told the management of the Great Northern Agribusiness Ltd (GNA) that the size of its investment in the Nigerian sugar industry may be insufficient compared to the vision of the Council’s leadership.
While commending the owners of the Sugar Estate, which is located in Gagarawa, Jigawa State, for remaining afloat for over a decade even in the face of bureaucratic issues that have stalled the full take-off of the project, the Executive Secretary noted that the capacity of GNA, the reputation of its parent company, the Lee Group, and the size of local production deficit may force the Council to ask for more.
Speaking at a reception held for him and his team in Gagarawa on Wednesday, Mr. Bakrin reminded the company’s leadership that the overall goal of the Council is Nigeria’s attainment of self-sufficiency in sugar production even as local production remains 50,000 metric tonnes out of the 1.8 million metric tonnes consumed in the country annually.
“What makes it interesting is that we are not attracting you, you were already there before I assumed office, even before my predecessor assumed office, you were already developing this sugar project. I am providing this context so you will know that I am heading somewhere with this, which is essentially the fact that we don’t see this like we are doing you a favour.
“We would naturally have come to you and say, “why don’t you look at sugar?” but you were already there. I am just trying to drive a point home. You are a natural partner to the Sugar Council and by extention Nigeria’s aspiration for self-sufficiency in sugar production.
“Given the size of the gap, the nature of the challenge, we don’t even believe that the current plan you have is sufficient. The scale of your ambition, we don’t believe it is sufficient. You would think it is ironic that we haven’t been able to solve your problem and we are telling you we don’t believe it is enough. The two things can both be true at the same time. Yes, we have not solved your problem, but even at that, what we expect from an organisation like the Lee Group – specifically GNA – is something more than a 100,000 metric tonnes of sugar purely because of your proven track record in making things happen, and the size of the opportunity that exists.
“1.8 million metric tonnes, by the way, is only talking about the Nigerian opportunity. The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) gives you an opportunity for additional 13 million tonnes of sugar to be supplied to the rest of Africa. That is the net import figure for the rest of Africa. So, the opportunity goes beyond that and you already have an export track record. Again, this is just making the point as to how, frankly, our interests are aligned. It is absolutely in our interest at the NSDC to see you succeed.
“We are in the process of finalising the review of available sites, which we will present to you based on your preferences in terms of location in the country for you to decide. But again, we expect that with your proven operating track record, you are able to find additional sites. We seriously look at GNA as being able to do a whole lot more than a 100,000 metric tonnes of sugar and what we should focus on is how we can partner to deliver it. Part of it goes to, specifically, how we address these challenges,” Mr. Bakrin said.
The GNA team listed the sugar estate’s challenges to include water and irrigation, Finance, access to Land and import duty.
In his response, the NSDC boss informed his hosts of his meeting with the Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Joseph Utsev, on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, where he requested the Minister’s intervention in approving GNA’s design of the sugar estate’s Bulk Water Supply (BWS) and Field Irrigation System.
He therefore informed the gathering that since that meeting, a lot of other correspondences had taken place, adding that he would aggressively pursue the approval of the Minister.
On the issue of Finance, he informed the GNA team that NSDC is planning an industry development fund with the support of AfDB, Afrexim Bank, IFC, World Bank etc who have all registered their intention to support the initiative. Though, getting results will take a bit of time, Mr. Bakrin assured them that soft loans can be gotten from the Fund to support infrastructure upgrade of Sugar Estates at single digit interest rate.
On the challenge of land clearance, he told the GNA team of his meeting with Governor Umar Namadi of Jigawa state in December, saying he will meet him again because the governor is very supportive of the project.
The NSDC team also promised to engage the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to resolve the issue of extra taxation (import duties) which GNA officials said they have been paying for the importation of equipment for the Sugar Estate.
The Executive Secretary and his team were taken round the expansive Sugar Estate where they saw the proposed factory sitting on 40 hectares of land, warehouses containing world-class equipment for sugar production and the sugarcane farm.
They also spent some time with the jaggery producers in Gagarawa to observe their production process and offer encouragement and support. The jaggery producers often purchase sugarcane from companies whose factories are not yet operational for crushing.
Jaggery, also known as Mazarkwaila in Hausa, is an unrefined sugar derived from raw, concentrated sugarcane juice. Its production involves boiling the juice until it solidifies, then cutting it into blocks. This traditional sugar is not only a staple in many households but also has industrial applications, making it a significant contributor to the sugar industry.
GNA, a fully owned subsidiary of Lee Group, was established in Nigeria on May 5, 2014.
On June 3, 2015, the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Jigawa State Government. This agreement outlined plans to develop a state-of-the-art sugar refinery in Jigawa State, with a total investment exceeding USD 150 million and an annual production capacity of 100,000 metric tonnes of white sugar.
In 2015, GNA secured 12,000Ha of land in Gagarawa LGA, Jigawa State, for a sugarcane plantation and refinery under an MoU with the Jigawa State Government.
In 2018, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources granted GNA a Water Use License for 249 million m³ annually for irrigation.
The Bulk Water Supply (BWS) and Field Irrigation System design were completed in 2022 and submitted for the approval of the Federal Government. This is yet to be granted and the NSDC leadership is now pursuing it.
A Project Management team of over 50 engineers and agronomists oversees GNA’s agriculture development and construction across the over 1,600Ha of land that has been cleared.
In the ES delegation were the Head of Strategy and Performance Management, Ms. Edirin Akemu; the Special Assistant to the ES on Stakeholder Management, Dr. Babangida Damare; and Head of Stakeholder Management, Mallam Muhammad Abdullahi Jazuli.
Other members of the NSDC delegation include Mr. Babajide Adediran, Mr. Adamu Musa, Miss Pamela Mbamalu, Mr. Abba Suleiman and Mr. Marcus Oreoluwa.
