From Brazil.
Niger Foods, in collaboration with the Nigeria Sugar Development Council (NSDC), has launched an ambitious initiative to revive Nigeria’s $2.5 billion sugar industry.
During a side event at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Niger Foods formalized a partnership with Uttam Sucrotech, a consortium of leading sugar value chain experts from Brazil and India.
This partnership aims to develop 250,000 hectares of sugarcane fields and establish six sugar/ethanol plants in Niger State within three years, aligning with Governor Mohammed Umar Bago’s industrialization agenda.
The Special Adviser on Digital Media and Strategy to Governor Bago, Abdullberqy Usman Ebbo, disclosed this development via his social media platform.
He emphasized that the administration is committed to leveraging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s food security initiative, which seeks to boost agricultural productivity, create jobs, and promote rural industrialization.
The Niger Farms project, which utilizes approximately 90,000 hectares along the recently inaugurated Sokoto–Lagos Super Highway, is projected to produce 2.5 million metric tonnes of sugar, 250 million liters of ethanol, and generate 300 megawatts of electricity.
The initiative is expected to create 100,000 direct and 250,000 indirect jobs while engaging 750,000 outgrower participants.
Ebbo noted that the sugar value chain project would also stimulate Niger State’s livestock industry and promote foreign earnings through mixed cropping of sugarcane with soybean.
Governor Bago expressed gratitude to President Tinubu for supporting transformative projects aimed at accelerating Nigeria’s socio-economic growth.
He expressed optimism that the Sokoto–Lagos Super Highway would open up access to 90,000 hectares of arable land, a significant portion of which will be used for the sugar project.
The Executive Secretary of the NSDC, Mr. Kamar Bakrin, recalled that Nigeria, Brazil, and India had similar ambitions in the 1960s to develop the sugarcane sector.
However, Nigeria’s efforts stagnated, with less than 20,000 hectares under cultivation, producing only 540,000 metric tonnes annually—meeting just 3% of the nation’s sugar demand.
In comparison, Brazil and India now produce 41 million and 36 million metric tonnes, respectively.
This renewed partnership aims to reposition Nigeria as a competitive player in the global sugar market.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
