Taxes and trade restrictions killing Kenya sugar sector

We have milked the supposed Kenya-Uganda bilateral sugar trade ‘deal’ over the last fortnight. One of the facts many concur on is that high costs of producing and selling sugar in Kenya, coupled with Government-instituted restrictions on importation of sugar are the two major stumbling blocks to competitiveness of the industry.

The high costs of production renders Kenyan sugar unable to compete favourably with those from other parts of the world where production is more efficient and cost-effective. Players in the sugar sector have argued that one of the main contributors to the high costs of production locally is unfavourable taxation.