Nigeria has imported raw sugar worth N2.7tn in the last 10 years despite launching the National Sugar Master Plan to boost self-sufficiency in sugar production, reports Punchng.
The Federal Government had in 2008 asked the National Sugar Development Council to develop a roadmap to attain self-sufficiency in sugar within the short span which led to the setting up of the National Sugar Master Plan.
The plan had estimated the sugar demand in the country would reach 1.7 million metric tonnes by 2020.
Though the plan was aimed to cut down sugar imports, the country has imported N2.7tn sugar from 2012 to 2022.
As per the data released by the National Sugar Development Council and the National Bureau of Statistics, the country imported raw sugar worth N238.6bn in 2012, during the first year of the NSMP.
It continued importing sugar every year with the highest figure recorded in 2021 at N425bn. The country was importing most of the sugar from Brazil as well as Andorra.
