Monument of Sugar is a research into Europe’s subsidized sugar exports. To turn the flow of sugar around, the artists produced a sugar sculpture in Nigeria and shipped it to Europe. A written essay and documentary sequences chart their investigations into the sugar trade and their experiences when producing and transporting the monument.
Much to our surprise, sugar was by no means cheap in Nigeria. The country’s large stocks of Bonny Light were said to be the primary cause. The high earnings generated from the export of this oil had led to overvaluation of the Naira, so that it had become cheaper to import commodities than to produce them. For years, the government has futilely attempted to turn the tide by imposing large levies on all foreign goods, making everyday life very expensive. After the levies, the obligatory vitamin A fortification, overseas transport and profit margins, the sugar price was as high as in Europe. It turned out that our 1000 euros could only buy bulk material for 144 sugar blocks, bringing the Nigerian sugar to the equivalent of 16 blocks more expensive than our European benchmark and 273 blocks more expensive than the world trading price. When we shook hands to take our leave, Dangote’s General Manager strongly advised us to make haste in buying large quantities of sugar, because the price would skyrocket as the Sugar Festival approached, something which our Islamic taxi driver had already mentioned several times. Shelves were indeed being emptied of sugar. It seemed that in order to reverse that enormous flow of sugar from Europe, we would have to rely on Brazilian raw bulk refined and fortified in Nigeria.
Much to our surprise, sugar was by no means cheap in Nigeria. The country’s large stocks of Bonny Light were said to be the primary cause. The high earnings generated from the export of this oil had led to overvaluation of the Naira, so that it had become cheaper to import commodities than to produce them. For years, the government has futilely attempted to turn the tide by imposing large levies on all foreign goods, making everyday life very expensive. After the levies, the obligatory vitamin A fortification, overseas transport and profit margins, the sugar price was as high as in Europe. It turned out that our 1000 euros could only buy bulk material for 144 sugar blocks, bringing the Nigerian sugar to the equivalent of 16 blocks more expensive than our European benchmark and 273 blocks more expensive than the world trading price. When we shook hands to take our leave, Dangote’s General Manager strongly advised us to make haste in buying large quantities of sugar, because the price would skyrocket as the Sugar Festival approached, something which our Islamic taxi driver had already mentioned several times. Shelves were indeed being emptied of sugar. It seemed that in order to reverse that enormous flow of sugar from Europe, we would have to rely on Brazilian raw bulk refined and fortified in Nigeria.
