|
|
Nigeria: Country Imports 90 Percent of Sugar Used - Bichi
 |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
Leadership (Abuja)
9 May 2008
Posted to the web 9 May 2008
Teddy Nwanunobi
The Federal Government is said to have imported some 90 per cent of sugar that is being consumed in this country.
Minister of state for commerce and industry, Alhaji Ahmed Bichi, who disclosed this figure recently, explained that the importation of such quantity of sugar into the country was as a result of the fact that there was a shortage of sugar that is required in the country.
According to him, "the production of sugar in this country is far below the consumption rate".
Bichi, who was at Egono, Agede in Edo State, to inaugurate the Midland Integrated Sugar Company Limited, however, observed that the country was capable of turning out some three million tonnes of sugar annually.
"Recent survey by the National Sugar Development Council has shown that about 500,000 hectares of low land suitable for sugar cane cultivation existed nationwide and that these were uncultivated in about 40 locations," he added.
The minister further noted that the sugar industry was next to the oil sector in diversity, adding that "products such as paper, ceiling boards, perfumery, furniture, and a host of chemicals could be obtained from it".
|
Bichi, who also recalled that the sugar industry used to be among the largest employers of labour along with the textile industries, reasoned that "because of the low level of production and investment, the advantages listed above are lost. The sugar industry had been the backbone of many economies, such as those of Brazil, Cuba, Thailand and India".
While disclosing that sugar production had been made easy with the approved sugar policy of the Federal Government, the minister urged sugar cane out growers to take advantage of incentives and support provided by government under the policy.
"These include the new tariff structure and reduction in the cost of licence of investors", he said.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 Leadership. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
