The National Sugar Development Council and the Bank of Industry have launched a ₦10 billion Sugar Project Acceleration Fund to support greenfield sugar projects and boost the growth of Nigeria’s domestic sugar industry, The Guardian reported.
The new facility, known as the Sugar Project Acceleration Fund (SPAF), is designed to provide financing and project development support to viable greenfield sugar ventures, with the aim of strengthening the country’s sugar value chain and promoting a more sustainable and competitive industry.
The initiative was unveiled during an interactive session organised by the National Sugar Development Council, where officials from both institutions engaged with project promoters expected to benefit from the programme.
Speaking at the event, Kamar Bakrin, Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the National Sugar Development Council, said the availability of capital alone does not automatically translate into sugar production.
“Development finance institutions manage billions of dollars in agro-industrial finance and are under pressure to deploy capital, while investors are actively seeking credible opportunities in African food systems,” Bakrin said.
However, he noted that many projects fail to secure funding because they are not adequately structured to meet investors’ requirements.
“The constraint is not the availability of money. It is the availability of projects that are structured, documented and de-risked to the standard required to receive financing,” he said.
Bakrin explained that the Sugar Project Acceleration Fund was created to help project promoters prepare bankable proposals by providing technical, financial and advisory support during the pre-investment stage.
“SPAF is a structured pre-investment facility designed to develop credible, investor-ready Nigerian sugar projects. It is not a grant programme but a mechanism to build a pipeline of viable investments,” he added.
Under the arrangement, the Bank of Industry will act as fund manager while the National Sugar Development Council will provide sector leadership and technical oversight.
Hadiza Shuaib, Executive Director for Public Sector and Intervention Programmes at the bank, said the initiative places strong emphasis on project structuring, risk management and skills development to ensure long-term sustainability.
“As Fund Manager, BOI will ensure that projects are properly structured, risks are effectively managed, and funds are deployed responsibly,” she said, adding that the bank will oversee credit appraisal, loan disbursement, monitoring and evaluation, and repayment management.
According to Shuaib, only businesses engaged in sugar production or sugar-related activities will qualify for support under the programme.
Greenfield projects represented at the engagement session included Illaj Sugar, Brent Foods, Crystal Sugar, Legacy Sugar, Saro Sugar, Awaa, Ganic and Confluence Sugar.
