President William Ruto has promised lower sugar prices in two weeks as the country gears up for cheaper imports even as the Cabinet is next week set to discuss drastic reforms to revive the ailing sugar sub-sector.
Kenyans have been paying through the nose for the sweetener after prices went through the roof due to reduced local production and expensive imports.
A spot check by Nation at some retail outlets in Nairobi last week showed sugar prices were retailing at between Sh225 and Sh250 per kilogramme. For a two-kilogramme packet, retailers were selling the sweetener at between Sh460 and Sh490.
Speaking at State House in Nairobi on August 2, 2023, President Ruto acknowledged the sharp rise in sugar prices but assured they would drop within one or two weeks.
The Head of State said the government has issued licences for traders to import sugar from outside the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) after stocks of the product run out in the region.
“Now that we have ascertained that there isn’t a sufficient supply of sugar in the Comesa area, we [are looking elsewhere around the world] and we expect fresh stocks of sugar to come into the country [within the next one or two weeks],” said the President.
Dr Ruto said the government has been at pains to strike a delicate balance between protecting sugarcane farmers from cheap sugar imports but also reducing prices for consumers as shortage of cane has curtailed local production.
Last year, the government opened a window for traders to import 100,000 tonnes of sugar duty-free from outside Comesa for three months ended March 2023.
Sugar coming in from other parts of the world attracts at least 50 per cent duty under the East African Community’s common external tariff.
The government also allowed the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC) to ship in 200,000 tonnes of sugar duty free for a one-year period from January 20, 2023, to January 19 next year.
President Ruto said plans have been formalised to reform the ailing sugar sub-sector and will be discussed in the Cabinet next week. He said the reason why local sugar companies have closed shop temporarily is because there is no cane to harvest and they had resorted to harvesting immature cane.
The Agriculture and Food Authority suspended local sugar production for a period of four months ending November 30, noting that millers had realised a drastic decline in sugar production over the past six months.
Sugar Directorate acting director Jude Chesire said the break will allow sugarcane to mature so that milling can resume.
Inflation dropped for the second consecutive month to 7.3 per cent in July driven by lower prices of food, cooking gas and electricity defying the sharp increase in fuel prices during the month.
It is the lowest year-on-year inflation since May last year when it stood at 7.1 per cent, and a significant drop from 7.9 per cent in June, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
