NSDC, NEXIM Forge Financing Alliance to Accelerate Nigeria’s $2bn Sugar Industry Transformation

Sunday Ehigiator

The National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) and the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM Bank) have sealed a strategic partnership aimed at unlocking long-term, development-focused financing to drive large-scale transformation of Nigeria’s sugar industry.The collaboration emerged from a high-level meeting between both organisations in Abuja, where discussions centred on mobilising sustainable funding to boost local sugar production and reduce import dependence.

Leading the NSDC delegation, the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Kamar Bakrin, proposed a partnership framework anchored on the Engineering, Procurement, Construction plus Financing (EPC+F) model to finance viable sugar projects across the country.

Explaining the structure of the partnership, Bakrin said the NSDC would originate and develop policy-aligned, bankable projects while supporting equity mobilisation, while NEXIM Bank would spearhead capital mobilisation through international Export Credit Agencies (ECAs), coordinate syndication with Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), support foreign input financing, and provide risk mitigation instruments, including guarantees and commercial risk insurance.

Speaking on the investment potential in the sector, Bakrin said, “Nigeria cannot achieve self-sufficiency in sugar production on short-term capital. What the sector requires is patient, long-tenor financing deployed at scale and backed by policy certainty. By partnering with NEXIM Bank and international export credit partners, we are putting in place a financing architecture that allows serious investors to execute, not speculate.”

He further highlighted the scale of market opportunities available within the sugar value chain, noting that Nigeria’s sugar market is valued at about $2 billion, while the broader African sugar market stands at approximately $7 billion. He added that sugar by-products alone account for a market exceeding $10 billion in Nigeria.

Bakrin stressed that Nigeria is strategically positioned to competitively serve both domestic and regional markets under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), provided long-term, appropriately priced financing is deployed to scale sugarcane cultivation and industrial processing.

He disclosed that the EPC+F financing model has already been successfully deployed through an existing partnership between the NSDC and SINOMACH, a leading Chinese engineering and industrial conglomerate. According to him, the arrangement has structured financing of up to $1 billion at the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) plus three per cent, with a 15-year tenor and a three-year moratorium to fast-track large-scale sugar projects nationwide.Bakrin stated that the model is projected to deliver annual foreign exchange savings of about $300 million through import substitution, generate more than 50,000 jobs across the sugar value chain, and enable up to 25 per cent import substitution within five to ten years.He also outlined institutional reforms being implemented to de-risk investment in the sector and strengthen execution certainty.

According to him, smuggling and related activities undermining local production are being addressed through stricter enforcement and effective implementation of penalties.Bakrin emphasised the sector’s inclusive growth framework, saying large-scale sugar projects are structured to create employment across farming, processing, logistics and ancillary services, while incorporating outgrower schemes to integrate smallholder farmers into commercial value chains and enhance rural incomes.

He further noted that host community participation remains central to project sustainability through preferential employment, skills development programmes, and investments in local infrastructure, healthcare and education.

Responding, the Managing Director of NEXIM Bank, Mr. Abba Bello, welcomed the initiative and acknowledged the sugar industry’s strategic importance to Nigeria’s economic diversification and export development agenda.

Bello said, “We recognise the strategic importance of the sugar industry to Nigeria’s economic diversification, export development and value-chain expansion objectives.”He further stated, “NEXIM Bank is interested in exploring structured partnerships that would unlock long-term financing, strengthen local value chains and enhance Nigeria’s competitiveness within regional and international markets.”

He also commended the council’s approach, saying, “We commend the structured and execution-focused approach being adopted by the NSDC and reaffirm NEXIM Bank’s commitment to supporting viable export-oriented and import-substitution projects that align with national development priorities.”