)
)
With a few months left to launch full operations, Uganda’s flagship coffee company, the Africa Coffee Park, has outlined a series of bottlenecks that they hope can be addressed to allow efficient production.
Among these, company officials say, is the heavy reliance on imported inputs, which is proving costly.
The Africa Coffee Park, a transformative agro-industrial project situated in Rwashamaire Town Council, Ntungamo District, is supported by the Government to revolutionise the country’s coffee sector through comprehensive value addition.
The company is poised to launch full scale production of a range of products, including roasted coffee beans, instant coffee, drip coffee, malt coffee, and coffee energy drinks among others.
)
)
)
)
Bottlenecks
However, the plant is having to import a lot of inputs, including all its packaging material from China.
“One of the challenges we are facing is that nearly all the inputs we are using at this plant are imported, including all the packaging materials. We get them all from China, which is costly,” said Asuman Kigongo
“As a country, if we could have someone that produces these cans, sachets and bottles, it would be helpful for us,” he added.
During a tour of the mega plant, musician Bebe Cool called for Ugandans to set up local production of such inputs.
“Anyone who is watching can run quickly, get a machine that produces these cans. Ugandans must be told that there is an opportunity to get the machinery that produces the packaging materials. All these ventures would give us a lot of jobs,” he said.
The plant, a high-capacity power consumer, has also been struggling with unreliable supply from the national grid, although the government has promised to provide a substation to improve stability.
)
A game changer or the coffee sector
The coffee park is not only an industrial facility but also a community-centric project. It is set to gather graded coffee from farmers in the Ankole, Kigezi, and Rwenzori regions, process it into final products, and package it for local consumption and export.
The initiative includes plans for a coffee resort, demonstration rooms, and other facilities aimed at promoting coffee tourism and education.
Full scale production is expected by August this year, according to Mr Kigongo.
This will be followed in October by a coffee festival which will be attended by 8 African heads of state.