by James Sambo
Dr. Hussain Ibrahim, the Director General, of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) has said Nigerians spend N165 billion annually on the importation of fruit juice.
While presenting a paper on Tuesday at a workshop in Kaduna, Ibrahim said importation of concentrates was adversely affecting the development of local fruits cultivation for juice processing.
According to him, the industry’s continued dependence on massive importation of concentrates is not healthy for the nation’s economy.
“The government policy, which allows the importation of fruits juice concentrates, is intended to be a temporary measure for nurturing and protecting the local fruits juice industry.
“Nigeria alone consumes about 50 per cent of the fruit juice sold in Africa,” he said.
He identified the key fruit juice concentrate pre-mixes being imported to include orange, pineapple, mixed fruits, apple, grape and mango.
According to him, suppliers of these products are South Africa, European Union and South America.
Prior to the imposition of high tariffs, 80 percent of Nigeria’s demand for fruit juice was filled by imports.
A report last year claimed that a daily production of 2000 litres could give manufacturers an annual profit margin of N15 million.
