Museveni backs sh751b coffee park to deepen Uganda’s value addition push
Nonda Coffee Park delegation told the President that the project is expected to become one of Uganda’s biggest agro-industrial investments, creating jobs, expanding export opportunities and retaining a bigger share of the coffee value chain within the country.
President Yoweri Museveni meets Nonda Coffee Park delegation at State House, Entebbe, Monday (July 27). (Courtesy)
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President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has thrown his weight behind a major coffee processing project in Nakaseke district that seeks to shift Uganda further away from exporting raw beans and towards value addition.
The President pledged government support for the Nonda Coffee Park project during a meeting with the project’s delegation at State House, Entebbe, on Monday (July 27), where officials presented progress on the planned facility and outlined preparations for its groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for October this year.
Led by Nonda Coffee Park chief executive officer Tonny Miiro Kibuuka, the delegation told the President that the project is expected to become one of Uganda’s biggest agro-industrial investments, creating jobs, expanding export opportunities and retaining a bigger share of the coffee value chain within the country.
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The coffee park, which will be built on a 100-acre site in Butalangu town council, Nakaseke district, is projected to become the largest single coffee processing facility in East and Central Africa, with capacity to process 42,000 metric tons of coffee annually.
According to Miiro, the project is part of the Great Uganda-Saudi Coffee Corridor under the Value-at-Source Coffee Project, Uganda’s flagship private-sector-led industrialisation initiative aimed at ensuring that more value from coffee production is captured locally before exports.
He explained that unlike the traditional model where Uganda exports largely unprocessed coffee beans, the Value-at-Source initiative seeks to process coffee domestically, allowing the country to earn significantly more from its leading export commodity.
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President Museveni in a group photo with Nonda Coffee Park delegation. (Courtesy)
The coffee park represents an investment estimated at $200 million (about sh751 billion), making it one of Uganda’s largest agro-processing projects.
Miiro said approximately $160 million will be invested directly in the development of the coffee park and related infrastructure on the 100-acre site in Butalangu.
Ready export market
One of the project’s biggest advantages, according to Miiro, is that it already has an established export market. He revealed that processed coffee from the facility is earmarked for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under an existing commercial arrangement.
“This project is already mapped to the off-take market in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. There is a ready market waiting for the coffee because we are the first Ugandan company to own coffee shops in the Middle East,” he said, adding that the company currently operates two Ugandan-branded coffee shops in Saudi Arabia.
The facility is projected to generate annual revenues exceeding $800 million, significantly increasing Uganda’s foreign exchange earnings from coffee exports.
Construction has already commenced with preparatory works at the site, and the project is expected to be completed within the next 24 months.
Miiro said preparations are also underway for the official groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for October this year.
“Our purpose in meeting the President was to thank him for the support he has committed to this project and also to inform him about the proposed groundbreaking ceremony later this year,” Miiro said.
The meeting was attended by several senior government officials, including the Attorney General Sam Mayanja; finance minister Henry Musasizi; Science and technology minister Eng. Jonard Asiimwe; the coordinator of the Islamic Development Funds, Habib Migadde, and other stakeholders involved in the implementation of the project.