Zanzibar Continues to Import Sugar
ZANZIBAR: According to the government, Zanzibar continues to import sugar from Mainland Tanzania and abroad due to inadequate production at the Mahonda Sugar Factory.
In response to backbenchers’ questions about the prevalence of imported sugar in Zanzibar’s market, Minister of Tourism and Heritage, Mr Mudrik Ramadhan Soraga, stated that local production is still low.
Currently, Zanzibar imports most of its sugar from Brazil and India because Mahonda’s production is inadequate, said Mr Bakar Hamad Bakar, a Wawi legislator who expressed concern about local industries’ protection.
Zanzibar consumes 36,000 tonnes of sugar annually, while Mahonda Sugar Factory produces only 8,000 tonnes, meeting only 22 percent of the island’s needs.
He explained that Zanzibar imported 31,402 tonnes of sugar in 2023, while the Mahonda factory produced only 4,560 tonnes.
There were 14,235 tonnes of sugar imported by Zanzibar between January and July of 2024, while just 2,000 tonnes were produced by Mahonda.
