The country could save up to $28 million (about Rwf20 billion) on sugar importation when Mauritian investor, Mauritius ACS Limited, starts producing sugar by the end of the year, Emmanuel Hategeka, the Ministry of Trade and Industry permanent secretary, has said.

The project is one of the priority investments the government is trying to ensure come on line this year.

Rwanda’s local demand for sugar is more than 80,000 tonnes per year. The country’s sole sugar maker, Kabuye Sugar Works, produces about 10,000 tonnes per annum due to different reasons though it has capacity to make 60,000 tonnes a year. This has meant that the country has had to rely on sugar imports to meet demand.

Therefore, a second sugar manufacturer will provide huge relief to the country.

 Alex Ruzibukira, the director general for investments at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said the factory to be located in the Eastern Province is expected produce 100,000 tonnes of sugar when operating at full capacity. It will be set up on a 10,000-hectare piece of land.

"The total investment is estimated at $250 million and negotiations to fast-track the project with the Mauritius ACS Limited investors are ongoing, Ruzibukira told Business Times.

The investor has already completed all soil tests to start growing sugarcane. "So far, the results are positive, and we expect the project to commence this year,” he added.

In a recent interview with this publication, Francois Kanimba, the Minister for Trade and Industry, noted the need for strong partnerships with private sector to fast-track priority projects, including the sugar plant.

"It’s a deliberate initiative to attract such kind of investors to help accelerate economic development. We will continue providing the necessary infrastructure to support the country’s industrialization programme,” Kanimba said.  

Kanimba said government is looking to reducing expenditure and trade deficit by supporting such projects. 

And according to experts, the new strategy announced by the government recently could reduce the overall import bill by at least 18 per cent in the next six years.

This financial year, the East African Community extended Rwanda’s exemptions on sugar imports from outside the region.

The move was to keep a study supply of sugar into the country as the government looks for alternative means to locally boost its supply.