Economy
Sugar Producers Lose Billions of Naira to Flood, Others
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Executive Secretary of the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Mr Latif Busari, has disclosed that producers of sugar in the country have lost several billions of Naira to flood, community hostility over land as well as smuggling of St Louis Cube Sugar.
Mr Busari made this disclosure while speaking in Abuja at the mid-term review meeting on the implementation of the National Sugar Master Plan (NSMP).
He noted that implementation of the policy has reached 40.3 percent between 2013 and 2016 and expressed hope that the master plan would record meaningful success in the years ahead.
The NSDC boss reiterated Federal Government’s commitment in leaving no stone unturned in its drive to achieve all the laudable goals and objectives for the sugar sector as contained in the NSMP roadmap.
According to the NSDC mid-term review, BUA scored 17 percent, Dangote scored 45.8 percent while Golden Sugar scored 58 percent in the targets set in the backward integration plan, including number of projects, new sugar factories, land developed, land under cane, out-grower farms, sugar produced and job creation.
Mr Busari revealed that BUA produced zero tonnes of sugar out of the 15,600 metric tonnes of sugar the company promised to produce during the period under review, Dangote produced 20,200 metric tonnes, being 28 percent of the 72,000 metric tonnes it promised to produce, while Golden Sugar produced 800 metric tonnes, being one percent of the 57,750 metric tonnes the company ought to have produced during the period.
At the meeting, the ES lamented that “many projects that would have raised the implementation profile of the NSMP were stalled by government/host community unwillingness to give out land.
“DSR’s proposal to establish a sugar estate in Zaria Kalakala, Kebbi State was stalled by political elite interference and demands after company had undertaken preliminary perimeter surveys and initiated action for topographical and soil surveys.
“Golden Sugar Estate, Sunti has witnessed so many disruptions during its development and even as recent as March 22, 2017 requiring the intervention of the Police and local Chiefs.
“BUA Group has also reported community hostilities against its operations at its BIP project site in Lafiagi Sugar Estate.
“Four such incidents of physical attacks against contractors working on estate roads and irrigation canals were recorded within the period.
“Flood protection dykes constructed at very huge costs were breached and cane fields washed away. Farm infrastructures – irrigation systems were damaged.
“The sudden discharge of water from Jebba and Kainji dams by the concessionaire companies was responsible for the 2016 incident.”
According to the report’s verdict “the new estate and factory established FMNL, Sunti, appears to be the key significant achievement under Phase 1 of BIP implementation.
“Other expected developments particularly the expansion of factory operations at DSR’s Savannah Sugar Company, Numan, developments at Lau/Tau and installation of factory at BUA’s Lafiagi Sugar Company, all of which would have impacted positively on the local sugar production, dimmed the performance of the sector.”
Mr Busari stressed that “having identified the constraints and designing measures to contain them, the prospects for the effective implementation of the NSMP over the next five years is bright.”
“The combination of the new guidelines with the actions that Government and relevant agencies will be taking will result in a greater commitment by operators and ultimately, more sugar projects and substantial increases in local sugar production levels,” he concluded.
Earlier, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Okechukwu Enelamah, challenged NSDC and stakeholders in the nation’s sugar industry to look beyond the mid-term performance and consider finishing-well.
Mr Enelamah reassured the stakeholders of the government’s commitment at creating business enabling environment, noting that while cement industry is doing well in the backward integration, sugar industry, considering its importance to the people, and should do better.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange weakened further by 1.75 per cent on Tuesday, August 18, triggered by losses recorded by the duo of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and Food Concepts Plc.
CSCS Plc, the Nigerian securities depository company, lost N8.48 to settle at N90.02 per share compared with the previous value of N98.50 per share, while Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of fast food franchise, Chicken Republic, dropped 15 Kobo to end at N2.35 per unit versus N2.50 per unit.
Consequently, the NASD Security Index (NSI) further declined by 77.26 points to 4,348.76 points from Monday’s 4,426.02 points, while the market capitalisation dipped by N46.37 billion to N2.610 trillion from N2.656 trillion.
During the session, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors slumped by 82.6 per cent to 113,728 units from the previous session’s 652,081 units, and the value of securities slid by 12.4 per cent to N9.4 million from the preceding day’s N10.7 million, while the number of deals increased by 47.6 per cent to 31 deals from 21 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units traded for N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 79.7 million units transacted for N5.8 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Nigerian Naira further appreciated against the US Dollar by N6.22 or 0.46 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Tuesday, August 18, to N1,343.32/$1 from the previous rate of N1,349.54/$1.
This occurred amid steady growth in Nigeria’s external reserves, rising to $52.32 billion as of August 17, 2026, giving the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) enough arsenal to defend the local currency when the need arises in the FX market.
Also, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N10.85 to close at N1,819.26/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,830.11/£1, and gained N8.55 on the Euro to sell at N1,556.24/€1 versus Monday’s N1,564.79/€1.
In the same vein, the Naira appreciated against the Dollar in the black market during the trading session by N5 to quote at N1,390/$1, in contrast to the N1,395/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and strengthened at the GTBank forex desk by N7 to N1,357/$1 from N1,364/$1.
NAFEM interbank FX turnover declined as financial institutions’ activities moderated. Interbank FX turnover dropped by 16.6 per cent to $364.709 million from $437.529 million, with the number of deals down by 39.3 per cent to 108 deals from 178 deals.
As for the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) traded at $64,120.36, as most other major cryptocurrencies closed in the green amid a global selloff in chip stocks.
An Asian semiconductor gauge dropped more than 3 per cent, following a 5 per cent slide in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index on Tuesday, its worst session since late July, while investors await US Federal Reserve minutes and are widely expecting no rate change in September.
Solana (SOL) gained 1.4 per cent to sell at $76.66, Cardano (ADA) added 0.9 per cent to trade at $0.1748, Ethereum (ETH) grew by 0.6 per cent to $1,905.54, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 0.4 per cent to sell at $0.9986, TRON (TRX) improved by 0.3 per cent to $0.3327, and Dogecoin (DOGE) soared by 0.2 per cent to $0.0698.
However, Binance Coin (BNB) depreciated by 0.4 per cent to $600.88, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited has recently struggled to regain its spark due to continued selling pressure from investors reducing their exposure to equities in favour of fixed-income investment instruments.
Yesterday, the stock market further shed 0.35 per cent on the back of profit-taking in the banking sector, which closed lower by 1.83 per cent. The consumer goods space lost 0.13 per cent, and the energy counter depreciated by 0.01 per cent, while the insurance index gained 0.04 per cent, with the industrial goods segment closing flat.
Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased on Tuesday by 843.42 points to 241,611.23 points from 242,454.65 points, and the market capitalisation shrank by N545 billion to N155.973 trillion from N156.518 trillion.
Like the previous session, investor sentiment was weak after Customs Street ended with 22 price gainers and 37 price losers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
Red Star Express weakened by 10.00 per cent to N16.20, Trans-Nationwide Express crashed by 9.94 per cent to N2.81, Meyer depleted by 9.88 per cent to N15.05, Chellarams plunged by 9.77 per cent to N9.70, and Fortis Global Insurance moderated by 9.70 per cent to N2.14.
On the flip side, Haldane McCall surged by 9.97 per cent to N3.20, Veritas Kapital climbed by 7.09 per cent to N1.36, Tantalizers rose by 5.26 per cent to N4.00, RT Briscoe appreciated by 4.31 per cent to N10.90, and Regency Alliance grew by 3.66 per cent to 85 Kobo.
A look at the activity chart for the day showed the volume of transactions significantly retreated by 66.94 per cent as a result of the absence of big-ticket trades, and the number of deals dropped by 21.57 per cent, while the value of trades increased by 20.09 per cent.
Market participants traded 429.8 million stocks valued at N27.5 billion in 35,683 deals during the session compared with the 1.3 billion stocks worth N22.9 billion transacted in 45,494 deals on Monday.
Sterling Holdings led the activity chart with a turnover of 51.6 million units for N390.6 million. FCMB traded 50.0 million units worth N584.8 million, Chams sold 32.4 million units valued at N134.5 million, Veritas Kapital exchanged 180 million units for N24.3 million, and First Holdco transacted 17.0 million units worth N2.2 billion.
