The National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) and the Bank of Industry on Sunday, March 8, established the Sugar Project Acceleration Fund (SPAF) as part of efforts to support the emergence and advancement of greenfield projects across the country.
The N10 billion fund was introduced to provide financing and project development support to viable greenfield projects, with the aim of accelerating the development of a sustainable and competitive sugar industry in Nigeria.
A statement from the NSDC stated that the council hosted an interactive session during which NSDC and BOI educated greenfield promoters who are potential beneficiaries of the fund.
Speaking at the event, the executive secretary and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NSDC, Kamar Bakrin, said capital availability alone would not automatically translate into increased sugar production.
He said, “Here is a reality that every serious project promoter knows: capital availability, on its own, will not result in sugar production.
“Development finance institutions manage billions of dollars in agro-industrial finance and are under pressure to deploy capital.
“Impact investors are actively seeking credible opportunities in African food systems.
“The constraint, far more often than people appreciate, 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.”
Bakrin explained that a bankable project must begin with a technically credible feasibility study that addresses agronomy, water balance, infrastructure requirements, and social and environmental risks with the same level of rigour applied by financiers during due diligence.
A bankable project begins with a technically credible feasibility study one that addresses agronomy, water balance, infrastructure requirements, and social and environmental risks with the same rigour applied by a financier’s due diligence team. It also requires a robust financial model that stress-tests assumptions, demonstrates debt service capacity under adverse scenarios, and presents a capital structure that appropriately allocates risk.
Bakrin emphasised that SPAF is NSDC’s structured pre-investment facility established to provide qualifying project promoters with the technical, financial, and advisory support required to develop their projects to bankable standard.”
“SPAF is not a grant programme, and it is not a gesture. It is a rigorous, output-oriented facility with clear eligibility criteria, defined deliverables, and an explicit objective: to build a credible, investor-ready pipeline of Nigerian sugar projects that can absorb the financing we are working to mobilise,” he added.
Also speaking at the event, Hadiza Shuaib, who led the BOI team to the meeting, said the bank would serve as the fund manager for SPAF, while the NSDC would provide sector leadership and technical guidance.
She added that beyond financing, the programme places strong emphasis on skills development and capacity building before and alongside funding. Shuaib outlined the bank’s responsibilities in managing the fund, including credit appraisal, risk management, loan disbursement, monitoring and evaluation, and account closure following full repayment.
“As fund manager, BOI will ensure that projects are properly structured, risks are effectively managed, and funds are deployed responsibly. We are also strong advocates for skills development, because financing alone is not sufficient to deliver sustainable outcomes,” she said.
She further noted that only businesses engaged in sugar or sugar-related activities would be eligible to benefit from the fund.
Greenfield projects represented at the interactive session included Illaj Sugar, Brent Foods, Crystal Sugar, Legacy Sugar, Saro Sugar, Awaa, Ganic, and Confluence Sugar.
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