President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has applauded businessman Nelson Tugume and his Inspire Africa Group for spearheading the establishment of a coffee processing industrial park in Ntungamo District, saying such initiatives are exactly what Uganda needs to build a self-sustaining economy.
Speaking at Mbale State Lodge while addressing the media on his campaign trail in the Bugisu subregion, President Museveni revealed that after years of urging Ugandans to invest in value addition, he was finally glad to find an ally who understood and took up the call.
“The Ntungamo we are talking about is that I finally got an ally,” Museveni said. “There’s a young group of people there led by a one Tugume Nelson, yes, that’s Inspire Africa. He came and took up my proposal, and that’s how I supported him—because he accepted.”
The President said Tugume’s Inspire Africa Group/Coffee Park project will create about 4,800 jobs, with at least 2,000 of them being scientists, engineers, and food technologists. He praised the project as a major step in Uganda’s long-term strategy to stop exporting raw materials and instead earn more by processing them locally.
“It’s really a wastage to go on exporting raw coffee. What we are doing now is wrong,” Museveni said. “I can support anybody if he does what Uganda needs—to add value, to add value, to add value.”
The President went on to illustrate the economic losses Africa faces from exporting unprocessed coffee. He noted that while the global coffee business is valued at $460 billion, all coffee-growing countries combined share only $25 billion, and Africa gets a meagre $2.5 billion.
“A country like Germany, which does not produce any coffee, earns $65 billion from coffee—bigger than all the coffee-growing countries of the world,” he said. “So I’ve been telling people, please, add value to coffee.”
Museveni said that value addition not only increases national earnings but also allows farmers to get better prices for their produce.
“When you sell unprocessed coffee, you get about $2.5 per kilo, but if you process it, you can earn between $25 and $40,” he explained. “When you do that, you can pay the farmer higher—maybe $8 or $9—because you are earning more.
The Inspire Africa Coffee Park, led by Tugume, is currently under construction in Rwashamaire, Ntungamo District. The facility will process Ugandan coffee into a range of finished products such as instant coffee, drip coffee, and coffee-based drinks—positioning Uganda to benefit more from its coffee industry.
President Museveni said such ventures are proof that Uganda’s young entrepreneurs are beginning to understand the NRM government’s call for industrialisation and value addition.
“You see, you have succeeded in adding value to cotton—this shirt I’m wearing is Ugandan cotton. Now we must do the same with coffee,” he said. “That’s why I am happy with Tugume. He is doing exactly what Uganda needs.”
