The bitter truth about Kenya's struggling sugar sector

The Treasury’s plan to inject Sh2.3 billion into Mumias Sugar Company to save the firm from collapse should be a wake-up call for all stakeholders. These include board of directors of all the country’s sugar millers, Government officials, cane farmers and local politicians.

This is because there is reason to believe that injection of money into firms in the sub-sector without requiring them to demonstrate how they have put their houses in order, could end up as an exercise in futility. It is hard to imagine how a company, or sector, that cannot generate profits in a protected market environment, will do so when that protection is swept aside.