A four-man delegation from the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) recently paid a working visit to the Executive Secretary of Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency (KADIPA) Hajiya Umma Aboki to discuss on areas of business collaboration and partnership between the two organizations.
Leader of the delegation and Deputy Director, Policy, Planning, Research and Statistics (PPRS), Alhaji Babangida Abba Damare said the visit was to formally introduce the Council to KADIPA boss, explore investment opportunities in the sugar sector and share experiences on how to create a business friendly environment.
Alhaji Damare who said the Council is presently implementing a ten-year master plan for the sugar industry known as the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP), reiterated Council’s determination to ensure faithful implementation of the master plan.
He further stated that the Master Plan projected that for Nigeria to achieve its domestic sugar targets, “the country needs to establish some 28 sugar factories of varying capacities and bring about 250,000 hectares of land into sugarcane cultivation, on which some sites fall within Kaduna State”. He cited Sugarcane Growing Areas of Dutsin – wai, Makarfi, Giwa, Ikara etc. as potential sites for sugar investments.
Responding, the Executive Secretary of KADIPA, Hajiya Umma Aboki said the current administration under the leadership of Governor Nasir El-Rufai believes that industrialization is the panacea to the growing rate of unemployment in the state and Nigeria as a whole. She said the agency under her watch will continue to evolve programmes and policies that would promote investments in the state.
Hajiya Umma Aboki who commended the Council for designing a policy roadmap for the sugar sector, said KADIPA would carefully study the document to enable her understand the contents.
The Council team comprised of the Deputy Director, PPRS, Alhaji Babangida Abba Damare, Assistant Director, PPRS, Hajiya Fatima Bobbo, Suleiman Mohammed Kabir and Abdullahi Habib.