Africa-Press – Tanzania. SUGAR self-sufficiency will be attained in three years, the new board of directors of the Sugar Board of Tanzania (SBT) has declared. Board chairperson Filbert Mponzi said here last week that shortages of the key consumer product will soon be history, while director general Prof Kenneth Bengesi said the deficit in local supply stands at 60,000 metric tonnes annually.
This requires increasing annual sugar output by 20,000 tonnes to attain self-sufficiency by 2025, he said, on the sidelines of a three-day meeting of the new board at the Arusha International Conference Centre (AICC).
The meeting was attended by six of its eight members, where apart from the chairperson the others were Ephraim Balozi Mafuru, Hussein Sufian Ally, Pelagia Zacharia Kayonga, Paulo Matiko Chacha and Jitihada Yusuph Chelenzo.
Board members affirmed here last week that the country has all it takes to deliver in the sugar sufficiency quest, pointing at the prevailing supportive policies and growing local production capacity.
SBT data show that output rose by 17 per cent in six years, with observers noting that the stagnation had to do with producing firms importing cheap sugar and rebranding it to sell at prevailing prices.
This scale of growth was rapidly being outstripped by demand, with the board chairperson stressing the current endeavours to increase local production.
This will require “further improvement of the sector’s business environment to consolidate the prevailing operational terrain and lure new investments,” he stated.
The board members expressed the wish to see Tanzania becoming a net exporter of sugar in the near future, asserting that it has the potential to “even dictate terms of the market in the region.
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“When inaugurating this board last month, Agriculture minister Hussein Bashe issued 10 directives to guide us,” the chairperson noted, affirming that the key issue is to ensure the country becomes sugar self-sufficient by 2025.
In the press conference at a visit to TPC Ltd. , he said this is the board’s number one goal, as it can be realized “if we put in place supportive policies and address inherent issues handicapping the growth of the sector.
During the familiarization tour on Tuesday upon starting its first working meeting in Arusha, he expressed support of their stakeholders and current projects to increase capacity, pointing at TPC as working on an expansion project. The scarcity of sugar in the country will soon be history, he emphasized.
The director general aired the view that the development of the local sugar economy is an agricultural sector priority, with remarkable progress being made in that regard, as the new board is bent on the sugar self-sufficiency mission by 2025.
Sugar output was now pegged at 380,000 tonnes against the national demand of 440,000 tonnes annually, he said. TPC chief executive officer Marius Jacobs said since its privatization over two decades ago, the company has invested over 250bn/- for rehabilitation, increasing capacity and modernising operations. Capital injections have been a worthy investment, attaining 110,000 tonnes annually and projecting 115,000 tonnes by 2025, he added.
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