Africa Sugar 2025: Main Conference Day 2Wednesday, 16 April 2025

Positioning Africa in the global sugar market

Strategies to compete with Brazil, Thailand, and India.

Unlocking Africa’s growth potential

Population growth as a driver for sugar consumption and export opportunities.

Exploring the export potential of African sugar, with a focus on the European, American, and emerging markets.

Strategies for African producers to leverage their unique products like specialty sugars.

Hear from international leaders like Brazil and Mauritius on innovations in sugar and ethanol production.

Explore transferable lessons for Africa, including policy frameworks, technology adoption, and market expansion.

Exploring the shift from global to regional trade models in the African sugar industry.

Analyzing how European sustainability standards, including the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), will impact African sugar exports.

Explore the CSDDD and its requirements for sugar companies, including compliance with sustainability practices, such as labor rights, environmental standards, and climate change mitigation.

Discuss the operational challenges and opportunities for African sugar producers aiming to meet European market standards.

Highlight the importance of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in creating a sustainable, self-sufficient sugar market within Africa.

Exploring barriers, such as stringent rules of origin, that hinder intra-African sugar trade under AfCFTA.

Discuss strategies for making AfCFTA more effective for the sugar industry

Examine collaborative opportunities to strengthen trade within African countries.

Ways to reduce reliance on imports in Kenya and enhance regional self-sufficiency.

Highlighting partnerships between millers, academia, and government for advancing agronomic practices.

Analyzing how infrastructural limitations and regulatory barriers affect sugar production in countries like Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi.

Offering solutions to overcome these hurdles and create a more favorable environment for sugar producers.

Highlighting the importance of sugar industry associations in advocating for collective growth.

Encouraging dialogue between national and pan-African sugar organizations for policy influence.

Identify tariff and non-tariff barriers hindering regional sugar trade.

Discuss strategies to harmonize trade policies and enhance cross-border collaboration.

Engage with farmer representatives and consumer bodies to address their unique challenges in the sugar value chain.

Understand the role of smallholders and cooperatives in shaping a sustainable industry.

Identify opportunities to produce value-added products, such as syrups for pharmaceuticals and foods.

Examine how diversification can reduce dependence on volatile sugar markets.

Investigate opportunities in sugar by-products, such as ethanol and polylactic acid, with a spotlight on Kenya’s export potential.

Discuss the role of specialization in chemicals and bioplastics in enhancing export revenues for African sugar producers.

Utilizing cassava as a sustainable feedstock for ethanol production, detailing the technological innovations, farming practices, and processing efficiencies that have enabled scalable ethanol cooking fuel solutions.

Empowering Farmers and Advancing Sustainability: the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of cassava-based ethanol production.

Case study of Netafim’s experience in adapting irrigation and precision agriculture to African sugarcane farms.

Highlight challenges and successes of introducing high-tech solutions in regions with limited infrastructure and resources.

Highlight critical R&D areas, from yield optimization and crop resilience to bioethanol production, to drive industry growth.

Discuss the role of industry bodies like the Sugar Association of South Africa in coordinating research.

Harnessing research for sugarcane optimization