The National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) has assured stakeholders that the country’s ban on the importation of refined sugar would remain in place despite the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement which is set to take effect in January 2021.
The Executive Secretary of NSDC, Dr. Latif Busari, told trade and investment correspondents during the Council’s annual end-of-the-year parley that sugar importation would not be allowed under the pact until after 10 years.
According to him, the exemption of sugar from the AfCFTA implementation was meant to allow Nigeria complete the on-going Backward Integration Programme (BIP) in the sector.
Represented by the Council’s most senior director, Hezekiah Kolawole, who is in charge of Policy, Planning, Research and Statistics, the NSDC boss said the implementation of the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) has been classified in a section under the AfCFTA that will allow the country complete implementation of the BIP.
“We don’t have any problems with regard to AfCFTA coming into operation in January because sugar industry is among those classified for 10 years and within this period, we can complete our Backward Integration Programme to boost local productive capacity,” he said.
He added that just like every other sector, the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed down a lot of activities in the implementation of both the BIP and NSMP.
The NSDC boss however enthused that the progress made in 2020 will be built upon in 2021.
