Kenya exits COMESA sugar safeguard after 24 years

Kenya has formally exited the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Sugar Safeguard regime after 24 years, marking a major policy shift for the country’s sugar industry.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) CEO Jude Chesire said the safeguard, which lapsed on November 30, 2025, had achieved its purpose and that the country was now ready to compete within the regional market.

“The Government of Kenya has formally exited the COMESA Sugar Safeguard regime after 24 years, marking a decisive and confident transition for the country’s sugar industry,” Chesire said.

“The safeguard, which lapsed on 30th November 2025, had fully achieved its objective as a temporary, reform-driven instrument to stabilize and restructure the sector.”

He emphasized that the exit should not be viewed as a risk to the industry, noting that reforms undertaken over the years had strengthened the sector.

“This transition reflects strength, not vulnerability. Kenya’s sugar industry is stable, well-managed, and supported by clear policy direction,” Chesire said, adding that stakeholders should be assured the move “does not expose the sector to disruption, but rather signals readiness to compete within a structured and fair regional market.”

According to the CEO, policy focus has shifted from protection to competitiveness, with emphasis on value addition, efficiency and diversification.

Chesire noted that globally, sugarcane is increasingly treated as an industrial raw material rather than a single commodity, with value realized through products such as ethanol, electricity from bagasse, paper, board and industrial alcohols.

He said Kenya was already moving in this direction, with KSB supporting millers to diversify by-products to strengthen cash flows and improve farmer payments.

On production, Chesire said the subsector had recorded strong recovery, with sugarcane acreage expanding by 19.4 per cent from 242,508 hectares to 289,631 hectares.

He added that sugar production rose by 76 per cent, from 472,773 metric tonnes in 2022 to 815,454 metric tonnes currently, driven by favourable rainfall, improved access to certified seed cane and fertiliser subsidy interventions.

He noted that while national demand stands at about 1.1 million metric tonnes annually, domestic production is increasingly aligned with consumption.

However, he said capacity expansion, factory rehabilitation and newly leased mills would take time to fully optimise, necessitating continued imports.

“Kenya will continue to responsibly supplement local supply through imports from both the COMESA region and other approved sources,” Chesire said, describing the approach as “deliberate and necessary” to ensure price stability, food security and market certainty without undermining local production.

Chesire also pointed to climate variability as a continuing factor affecting output, saying dry spells could temporarily reduce production while good rainfall seasons were expected to boost yields.

Despite this, he said the medium-term outlook remained strong, with Kenya projected to meet and surpass domestic demand and position itself for surplus production and regional exports.

The KSB CEO said the sector had undergone “deep and irreversible structural reforms,” citing the long-term private leasing of former state-owned sugar mills as a deliberate move to restore efficiency, professionalism and accountability.

He stressed that exiting the safeguard did not mean withdrawal of government support.

“The exit from the safeguard does not negate this support. On the contrary, it aligns with the reform trajectory already underway and reinforces certainty in the operating environment,” Chesire said.

Kenya first sought the Sugar Safeguard in 2001 under Article 61 of the COMESA Treaty to allow time for reforms.

Chesire said that over 24 years and eight extensions, the safeguard was governed by strict benchmarks set by the COMESA Council of Ministers, all of which have now been met.

“The conclusion of the safeguard therefore marks the successful completion of a reform cycle, not its abandonment,” he said.