Minister of Trade and Investments, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, Monday, said the Federal Government has concluded plans to ban the importation of raw sugar with effect from January 1, 2013.
He also disclosed the government expects to generate $17.4 billion in 2013 from planned introduction of weight measuring in some sectors of economy, in 2013, while also saving the nation $3 billion within the same period.
Aganga who spoke at the Ministry of Trade & Investments’ second annual seminar for Industry Correspondents and Group Business Editors in Abuja said the proposed ban on all sugar in retail packages was part of the federal government’s National Sugar Master Plan. Currently, there are two major investors in sugar industry which are Dangote Sugar Refinery and Bua Sugar Refinery.
The minister noted that objectives of the National Sugar Master Plan include raising local sugar production to attain self sufficiency, stemming the tide of high level importation, creating of huge number of job opportunities, as well as contributing to the production of ethanol and generation of electricity.
He explained that currently 98 percent of brown sugar which are refined into white sugar is imported into the country from Brazil, adding: “All these are going to change next year as only investors who are committed to backward integration in the sugar sector will be given licence to import certain quotas into the country in order to augment local production.
Minister of Trade & Investment, Olusegun Aganga
“We want to replicate the success story of backward integration policy in the cement industry in the sugar industry. We won’t allow the importation of brown sugar again from 2013.”
Elaborating on the National Sugar Master Plan (NSMP), the Executive Secretary, National Sugar Development Council, Abuja, Dr. Latif Busari, emphasised that the council would adopt high graduated tariff structure on sugar importation, mandatory backward integration programme for refineries, provision of investors-specific incentives to discourage importation of raw brown sugar and attract investors into the sector.
He listed other strategies to include regulation of the entire regime of sugar importation through quota allocation benchmark on local; production, robust monitoring and evaluation framework to ensure compliance with milestones and time-lines and enlargement of the sugarcane value chain players.
Foreign direct investmentBusari said the ban was expected to attract an estimated $3.1 billion foreign direct investment into the country, deepen banking sector via increased loan syndication, savings of foreign exchange on sugar imports and earnings on sugar exports to be deployed to other critical sector.
He said that with backward integration in sugar, 1.8 million tonnes of sugar and 161.2 million litres of ethanol annually would be locally produced per annum. It is also expected to create 37,378 permanent jobs and 79,803 seasonal jobs, save $65.8 million in foreign exchange on fuel imports annually, and $350 to $500 million in foreign exchange on sugar imports annually.
On metering through weights and measures, Aganga said that the regulation was introduced to checkmate cheating of Nigerians both in public and private sectors, stressing that it would first be implemented in the oil and gas and will extended to other sectors later.
He said: “The regulation if well implemented will save the economy more than $3 billion and $17 billion in revenue by 2013. Before now, we have been relying on UNCTAD data for information on new investments that come into the country, but from January 2013, we will no longer rely on UNCTAD data.” Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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PLEASE READ THIS MY FELLOW NIGERIANS
ReplyDeleteFrom my little knowledge as someone who went to school. I think this
policy of the federal government will be of much benefits to
us(Nigerians) if it’s administered properly. Such a policy will
encourage local production of the commodity(sugar). Let us not look at
it as monopolistic because the government offers a uniform platform and
policies for every entrepreneur(both local and foreign) including
Dangote.
There’s no different policy for Dangote group of company. So we should
thank those who have decided to invest in Nigeria. Thank Dangote for
providing jobs, and encouraging local sugarcane farming. We should also
thank him for being so generous to Nigeria by providing some
infrastructures in the communities where his facilities are sited. He
constructs road to be able to access his factory(some may say he did so
to be able to take advantage of our resources and mineral deposits) but
remember also that the villages near his factory also benefits from the
road he constructed. Villagers and farmers now access the Urban areas
through Dangote-constructed road. That is a way of keeping the money
within, giving back to the people. He gains and we gain too.
But remember that those who import sugar to us did not create jobs for
us here in Nigeria. They did not build factories, boreholes, renovate
schools or construct road in deep villages for the villagers to take
advantage of. How many scholarship did they provide for us? How many
charity organisations did they establish or sponsor here in Nigeria?
Instead they have created jobs for their home countries (foreign
countries) and only want to take advantage of us- Nigeria the big
market. They come, sell and take the money to pay their workers abroad,
sponsor their citizens through scholarship and do all these things
Investors in Nigeria do for us for their people. Some even see Nigeria
as a dumping ground for sub-standard sugar products. If they really want
to benefit from us, let them come in and build factories, employ our
people and buy sugarcanes from our farmers then sell it(processed sugar)
to us.
Think of the benefits if foreigners build factories in Nigeria. There
will be decrease in unemployment, burst in local production, and if we
have many of them in Nigeria it will bring about decrease in the price
of the commodity. We can become an exporter of sugar too; we are tired
of the trade deficit in our international trade statistics. And think of
what happens if every goods we import is being processed in Nigeria.
Let foreign Investors give also to us. Invest in Nigeria.
Right now I study abroad and most white men ask me some funny questions
like “are you on scholarship” because they think everyone of us
(Africans) is/are a victim of sympathy meanwhile the same person(s) who
sees me/us as poor is/are being sponsored by a company or industry that
probably gets almost all it’s income from transactions in Africa. No
shaking! Nigeria must move forward.
One Love Nigeria
GOD BLESS NIGERIANS.