Nigeria could save about $1bn in foreign exchange annually and create 110,000 direct jobs by achieving self-sufficiency in sugar production, the National Sugar Development Council has said, as the government seeks to reduce import dependence and deepen domestic manufacturing.
Speaking at the just concluded 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, the council’s Executive Secretary and Chief Executive, Kamar Bakrin, said the industry could contribute to employment, rural development and foreign exchange conservation if the government’s industrial ambitions translated into sustained investment.
“Nigeria’s most pressing priorities are well known: jobs, especially for young people; rural livelihoods; security, pressure on foreign exchange; food security; and the cost of living,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.
The ambition highlights the scale of the challenge facing Africa’s most populous country, where domestic sugar production remains a fraction of consumption despite years of efforts to develop the industry. Nigeria consumes about 1.7 million metric tonnes of sugar annually, while output was estimated at 105,000 tonnes in the 2025/26 marketing year, according to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
