Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo delivering his remarks.
BY PHESHEYA KUNENE – EDITOR
SIMUNYE – Can Southern Africa’s sugar industry survive on sugar alone?
That question dominated discussions at the 2026 Standard Bank Regional Sugar Summit held at Simunye Country Club on Friday, where policymakers, financiers, growers and millers warned that rising production costs, climate shocks and global market instability were forcing the industry into a new era of industrialisation and diversification.
The summit signalled a decisive shift from traditional sugar production towards a broader agro-industrial model centred on ethanol, renewable energy, biofuels and value-added manufacturing.
Eswatini Sugar CEO Banele Nyamane delivering his speech.
Delivering the keynote address, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo said Eswatini was positioning the sugar industry as a strategic pillar for industrialisation, export growth and regional trade integration.
Khumalo said government was actively pursuing expanded market access through SACU negotiations, the EAC-COMESA-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), while also pushing for deeper agro-processing and local value addition.
He said the future of the industry extended beyond raw sugar exports into ethanol production, biofuels, pharmaceuticals, confectionery manufacturing, specialty sugars and sustainable packaging solutions.
“The ambition now is to deepen domestic industrial capacity and significantly increase local value addition,” said Khumalo.
The minister also identified the Durban and Maputo trade corridors as critical economic lifelines linking Eswatini to regional and international markets, adding that efforts to improve border efficiency and reduce congestion were lowering the cost of doing business.
Ubombo Sugar Limited MD Muzi Siyaya sharing his insights while RES Corporation MD Nick Jackson and Standard Bank Lomkhosi looks on.
However, despite the industry’s long-term ambitions, the summit heard that escalating fuel and fertiliser costs were placing severe pressure on growers.
Speaking on behalf of the Eswatini Cane Growers Association, Dr Sipho Nkambule revealed that production costs for small-scale growers were projected to rise from about E53 213 per hectare in the 2025/26 season to more than E62 408 per hectare in 2026/27.
At the same time, projected grower margins were expected to decline sharply from roughly E23 594 to about E12 213.
Nkambule attributed the pressure largely to rising diesel, electricity and fertiliser costs, worsening climate conditions and declining cane yields, which have fallen from nearly 100 tonnes per hectare to around 90 tonnes.
He warned that geopolitical tensions involving Iran were beginning to affect global oil markets and agricultural supply chains, increasing operational costs across irrigation, harvesting and transportation.
Climate volatility also emerged as a major concern, with growers facing more frequent droughts, floods, hailstorms and pest outbreaks.
Meanwhile, industry leaders argued that diversification was no longer optional.
Royal Eswatini Sugar Corporation Managing Director Nick Jackson revealed during panel discussions that Simunye Mill was currently ranked the top-performing sugar mill in Sub-Saharan Africa, while Mhlume Mill ranked second out of 29 mills assessed across the region.
Jackson said the company was expanding beyond sugar into ethanol production, downstream packaging and large-scale power generation projects as part of efforts to build a more resilient business model.
“The businesses that will survive are those that do not see sugar only as a commodity,” he said.
Ubombo Sugar Limited Managing Director Muzi Siyaya echoed similar sentiments, revealing that the company was investing heavily in renewable energy expansion and ethanol opportunities.
Siyaya said Ubombo Sugar had already expanded electricity exports to the national grid and was increasing generation capacity from 17 megawatts to 40 megawatts through an investment estimated at E1.5 billion.
He added that energy generation already contributed nearly 20 percent of the company’s profits, while ethanol production represented the next major growth frontier.
Siyaya further revealed that Ubombo Sugar injected between E2 billion and E3 billion into the local economy during the past financial year through procurement, logistics, infrastructure projects and supplier development initiatives aimed at empowering local entrepreneurs.
The summit also highlighted the growing role of finance in supporting agricultural transformation.
Standard Bank representatives said the bank planned to increase agribusiness exposure within its commercial and business banking portfolio from 30 percent to 50 percent over the next three years.
The bank unveiled several financing solutions tailored for growers and suppliers, including production loans, invoice discounting, asset finance and unsecured personal loans of up to E750 000 for qualifying clients.
Stakeholders agreed that regional collaboration, technological innovation and industrial diversification would determine whether Southern Africa’s sugar industry remains globally competitive in the coming decade.
The summit was held under the theme: “Building Resilience, Advancing Sugar’s Sustainable Future.”
