• Nigeria’s National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) launched a 10-billion-naira ($7.1 million) Sugar Project Acceleration Fund (SPAF) with the Bank of Industry (BOI).
• The fund will help private promoters develop bankable sugar projects capable of attracting development finance and impact investors.
• Nigeria aims to raise domestic sugar production to 1.79 million tonnes by 2033, compared with about 75,000 tonnes currently.

Nigeria has launched a new financing mechanism aimed at accelerating investments in its domestic sugar industry. The National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) created a 10-billion-naira ($7.1 million) fund in partnership with the Bank of Industry (BOI) to support the development of sugar projects.

Local media reported the initiative on March 8. Authorities named the mechanism the Sugar Project Acceleration Fund (SPAF).

The fund aims to support early-stage project preparation and help private promoters transform their initiatives into bankable investments capable of attracting financing from development institutions and impact investors.

Kamar Bakrin, executive secretary of the NSDC, said many sugar projects struggle to raise capital because promoters fail to provide credible feasibility studies, financial models or implementation plans.

“The SPAF is a structured pre-investment facility designed to provide qualified promoters with technical, financial and advisory support to develop their projects to the bankable stage,” Bakrin said. “This is not a grant program but a mechanism designed to build a credible pipeline of Nigerian sugar projects ready for investment,” he added.

Authorities expect the initiative to accelerate the emergence of large-scale sugar projects and strengthen the development of a still-nascent domestic sugar industry.

At the same time, the initiative reflects the government’s strategy to create a more attractive investment environment for the Nigerian sugar sector and accelerate industrial development.

The fund also follows additional initiatives aimed at boosting sugar sector investment. In February, the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) signed a partnership with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), a platform that brings together the governors of the country’s 36 states.

Under the agreement, the NGF secretariat will include sugar projects among the priority beneficiaries in its engagement with development partners in Nigeria and abroad. Authorities expect the partnership to strengthen investment flows into the sector.

Self-sufficiency in sight

Nigeria aims to achieve sugar self-sufficiency under the second phase of the National Sugar Master Plan (NSMP II) covering 2023-2033. Abuja plans to raise domestic sugar production to 1.79 million tonnes, compared with current production of about 75,000 tonnes per year.

Investment projects have multiplied since the launch of the program as public and private partnerships attempt to close the country’s sugar processing gap.

In August 2025, the NSDC signed agreements with four Nigerian sugar companies in the states of Oyo, Niger, Adamawa and Bauchi. These projects aim to produce a combined 400,000 tonnes of sugar per year, equivalent to 100,000 tonnes per industrial site.

Earlier in April, the NSDC signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese conglomerate SINOMACH to develop a large sugar complex. The project carries a total investment cost of $1 billion. The first phase aims to produce 100,000 tonnes of sugar annually, while the project’s long-term goal targets 1 million tonnes per year.

This article was initially published in French by Stéphanas Assocle 

Adapted in English by Ange J.A de Berry Quenum