The Chairman of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Aliko Dangote has warned that Nigeria is losing over 300,000 metric tonnes of local sugar demand to smuggling on yearly basis.
He said local production of sugar should be about 1.5 million tonnes, which he said has the capacity to employ over 250,000 people, but stressed that smuggling has continued to hinder the growth of Nigeria’s sugar industry. “It is very difficult to compete with smugglers who do not pay excise duties, tariffs, but only settles the Nigerian Customs. Smuggling is really adversely affecting our business, but we are working with the government to address the issue. We are also confronted with issues of infrastructure, but the Federal Government has been magnanimous by signing the Presidential Order 007, to give us the road to construct from the port gate all through to the toll gate going to Ibadan.
He said the cost optimisation efficiency project that is ongoing in the Apapa refinery will impact positively on the company’s performance in the years ahead.
What crosses my mind is how sugar consumption is contributing to diabetes in Nigeria. In sub-Saharan Africa, NG has the highest of people with diabetes - some 3.9 million people (or an extrapolated prevalence of 4.99%) of the adult pop. aged 20-79. (