Abuja: The National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) and the Bank of Industry (BOI) have unveiled a N10 billion Sugar Project Acceleration Fund (SPAF) to support greenfield sugar projects.
Mr Kamar Bakrin, NSDC Executive Secretary, said the fund would provide financing and development support to viable sugar project promoters, aiming to accelerate the development of a sustainable and competitive sector.
According to Bakrin, this will help to accelerate the emergence of a sustainable and competitive sugar industry in Nigeria.
The SPAF aims to transform early-stage project ideas into investments that can attract funding from development finance institutions and impact investors.
The executive secretary said access to capital alone does not automatically translate into sugar production.
Bakrin said that development finance institutions globally managed billions of dollars in agro-industrial investments but required projects to be properly structured and de-risked before funding.
He explained that many proposed sugar projects failed to attract funding because they lacked credible feasibility studies, strong financial models and clear implementation strategies.
According to him, bankable projects must demonstrate sound agronomic planning, infrastructure readiness, realistic timelines and responsible environmental and social governance standards.
He said many promoters struggled to meet requirements due to the high cost of proper project preparation.
He described SPAF as a structured pre-investment facility established to support promoters with technical, financial and advisory services needed to prepare bankable projects.
“SPAF is not a grant programme but a rigorous facility with defined eligibility criteria and deliverables aimed at building a credible pipeline of investor-ready sugar projects,” he said.
Ms Hadiza Shuaib, an official of BOI, said the bank would serve as the fund manager, while NSDC would provide sector leadership and technical guidance.
Shuaib said BOI would oversee credit appraisal, risk management, loan disbursement, monitoring and evaluation, and account closure after full repayment.
She said the bank would ensure that projects were properly structured, risks were managed effectively, and funds were deployed responsibly.
According to her, the programme also emphasises skills development and capacity building to ensure long-term sustainability of supported projects.
Shuaib added that only businesses engaged in sugar or sugar-related activities would qualify for the fund.
Greenfield promoters who attended the session included Illaj Sugar, Brent Foods, Crystal Sugar, Legacy Sugar, Saro Sugar, Awaa, Ganic, and Confluence Sugar.
The initiative is expected to strengthen Nigeria’s sugar value chain and support the development of new large-scale sugar projects nationwide.
Council officials also guided prospective greenfield promoters on accessing the fund and building an investment-ready project, ensuring stakeholders are equipped for success.
