Govt mulls clearing raw sugar imports for local processing

The government will allow the importation of raw sugar which will be refined locally for industrial and domestic use, Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui has announced.

According to Kinyanjui, the move will save the country billions of shillings spent on imports which stands at about 400,000 metric tons annually.

Traditionally, Kenya has been a net importer of sugar to plug a yawning deficit in local production. However, the country has been making major strides towards self sufficiency with the government banning imports in November last year.

This saw imports falling by 45pc in the third quarter of 2024, due to an oversupply of the commodity in the local market.

Trade cabinet secretary Lee Kinyanjui says the country is currently importing all the industrial sugar used locally, thus costing the country billions of shillings in forex outflow.

To address this, he said the government will soon open an import window for raw sugar.

Speaking during a fact-finding mission at the Kibos Sugar Factory in Kisumu, the CS said the imported raw sugar will also enable local refining to plug the estimated 400,000 metric tons deficit in ordinary sugar.

Kinyanjui has challenged the private sector to invest more in sugarcane growing to avoid the periodic closure of sugar factories due to the shortage cane.

And to save the threatened paper industry, CS Kinyanjui revealed of impending policies barring mass exportation of raw materials used by paper manufacturing factories, which he said is disadvantaging local paper manufacturers.