KAPEEKA, Uganda (UGNEWSLINE) – Uganda’s coffee story has long been told through the beans it grows and the markets it supplies. But at the launch of the Uganda Coffee Group at Kapeeka Industrial Park, the conversation shifted to ensuring more of the wealth created by Uganda’s coffee is earned, built, and retained in the country.
KCB Bank Uganda has joined the Uganda Coffee Group as one of the partners, supporting a private sector-led initiative designed to strengthen Uganda’s coffee value chain by connecting farmers, cooperatives, processors, manufacturers, investors and financial institutions.
The launch, held at Namunkekera Industrial Park in Kapeeka, brought together stakeholders from across the coffee industry to mobilise investment and support a new approach to commercialising one of Uganda’s most important agricultural commodities.
Chief fundraiser General Salim Saleh, the Chief Coordinator of Operation Wealth Creation and Senior Presidential Advisor, called on stakeholders and Ugandans to support the initiative and take a more active role in the coffee value chain. The ambition is to move beyond selling raw beans and create more opportunities for Ugandans to grow, process, roast, package, brand and distribute their coffee locally and internationally.
The opportunity is significant. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Uganda exported approximately 7.75 million 60-kilogram bags of coffee in the 2024/25 financial year, earning about US$2.21 billion. These earnings show coffee’s importance to the national economy, while highlighting the opportunity to build more businesses and industries around the crop.
The next frontier, therefore, is to capture more value from every kilogram grown. The Uganda Coffee Group has been established as an indigenous, private sector-led investment and commercialisation platform intended to bring together the different players in the industry and accelerate Uganda’s participation across the coffee value chain.
Its ambition is to promote climate-smart production, improve coffee quality, expand local processing and manufacturing, strengthen research and innovation, and build a globally competitive Ugandan coffee brand.
This could mean stronger links to markets, improved access to finance and opportunities to earn more from their produce for farmers, and it could open doors to businesses in roasting, packaging, distribution and other coffee-related industries for entrepreneurs. For Uganda, it presents an opportunity to expand industrial capacity, create employment and grow the contribution of locally produced goods to the economy.
While speaking at the launch, Edgar Byamah, Managing Director of KCB Bank Uganda, said the bank was bringing its regional experience in agricultural financing, trade and value-chain development to support the initiative.
“Coffee transcends borders. It is a crop that is present in four or five of the countries in the East African Community, and we bring that experience on top of access to market, which is very critical,” said Byamah.
He noted that KCB Bank’s experience supporting aggregators and value addition in other agricultural industries, including sugar, provided a foundation for its engagement in coffee.
“We are happy to be one of the partners, and we pledge to you that we will make that initial contribution that is expected of the members as part of this Uganda Coffee Group,” he added.
KCB Bank Uganda’s participation reflects the importance of financing in helping agricultural businesses move from production into higher-value commercial activities. Farmers need resources to improve productivity, while aggregators and processors require working capital to purchase produce, fulfil contracts and expand their operations. Manufacturers and exporters, meanwhile, need financing and market connections to compete effectively.
Through its agricultural financing value proposition, KCB Bank Uganda is seeking to support businesses at different stages of the coffee value chain, from farmers and agricultural input dealers to aggregators and processors.
The bank outlined financing solutions for aggregators and processors, including unsecured contract financing of up to UGX800 million and invoice financing of up to UGX1 billion for eligible businesses with qualifying contracts and invoices.
For agricultural input dealers, the bank highlighted financing of up to 80 per cent of eligible input-supply requirements under its applicable facility terms. Farmers and farmer groups can also access digital solutions for input purchases and unsecured business loans of up to UGX200 million, subject to the bank’s assessment and lending conditions.
Additional support includes asset financing, advisory services and collaboration through the Agricultural Credit Facility, a financing arrangement involving participating financial institutions and the Bank of Uganda.
These solutions are intended to address a challenge that frequently limits agricultural growth: the gap between having a viable business opportunity and having the capital to pursue it.
For Moses Kawombe Tamale, Chairman of the Uganda Coffee Group, the initiative represents a deliberate shift in how Uganda approaches its coffee industry.
The Group’s guiding ambition, “From Green Bean to Global Value,” reflects a desire to move Uganda from being predominantly a producer and exporter of raw coffee towards becoming a more competitive participant in processing, manufacturing, branding, financing and international trade.
The Group has set out to mobilise UGX30 billion in starting capital over two years and grow investment in Uganda’s homegrown coffee industry to UGX1.57 trillion by 2040. It also aims to double the value farmers gain from the coffee value chain every two years.
Achieving these ambitions will require coordinated investment, stronger market access, improved production practices and sustained collaboration between the public and private sectors.
It will also require a change in how the opportunity is understood. Coffee can also be the foundation for local manufacturing businesses, distribution networks, new brands and employment for Ugandans along the way.
By supporting the Uganda Coffee Group, KCB Bank Uganda is positioning itself as a financial partner in that broader transformation, helping connect agricultural production with the financing and commercial infrastructure needed to create value beyond the farm.
