PSST Ramathan Ggoobi, on February 20th met with Mr. Nicolas Tamari, CEO of Sucafina, a multinational coffee merchant and one of the world’s leading coffee trading and roasting companies at the company headquarters in Geneva.
Mr. Ggoobi who was on a 2-day working trip to Geneva was informed that Sucafina trades 4% of the world’s coffee exports and is located in 57 locations in 43 countries, including Uganda.
He briefed Mr. Ggoobi about Sucafina’s historic relationship with Uganda informing him that the company had operated in East Africa, since the 1950’s and has invested in the region more than any other part of Africa. He added that when the world was moving to South East Asia to trade in coffee, in the 1990s following the liberalization of the coffee sector, Sucafina, given its historic attachment, opted to retain its business holdings in Uganda. He credited the Company’s decision to remain active in Uganda to President Yoweri Museveni’s decision to liberalize the economy. To date, Sucafina has upwards of $20m of fixed assets in Uganda including coffee washing stations in Kasese.
Speaking with pride, Tamari declared, “1 in 6 cups of coffee drank in Europe today has its roots in Uganda, because of Sucafina’s investment,” he said, adding that the Sucafina Coffee Roastery in Belgium roasts 10% of all coffee purchased in Uganda. He said that UGACOF its subsidiary had been Uganda’s top coffee exporter since its inception, employing thousands and opening up markets across the globe, in addition to being good and timely paymasters to the farmers.
PSST Ggoobi expressed gratitude that Sacafina had considered Uganda as one of those places they cherished doing business in. He shared Uganda’s growth strategy through the four pillars of Agro-processing, Tourism, Mineral Development and Science and Technology transfer, pointing out that companies like Sucafina, with their investments in Uganda, were doing a great job in the transformation of Uganda’s economy. He encouraged stronger collaboration with Government in order to achieve the 10-fold level of growth by 2040.
Mr. Tamari congratulated the Government of Uganda on the strategy, assuring Mr. Ggoobi of Sucafina’s commitment not just to the development of the communities in which it operates, but also to its own vision, which is “to be the leading sustainable farm to roaster Coffee Company in the World”.
Mr. Ggoobi said that H.E. President Museveni is a champion of the private sector and that as a private sector-led economy, Uganda takes Sucafina’s investments very seriously. “The liberalization market signals must answer all economic questions,” he said. He revealed that the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) construction would be kicking off in March 2025 promising that the SGR would reduce the cost and increase efficiency of transportation, which would be a major game-changer for export companies like Sucafina.
Mr. Tamari observed that demand for coffee remains high for the near future, and Uganda should increase production, aiming for the 20m bag mark, because it has the capacity to meet such demand.
The guests were treated to both an in-house coffee cupping and coffee tasting exercise in order to appreciate what distinguishes the taste of Uganda’s coffees from others on the market and had an in-depth discussion on future plans for the coffee industry in Uganda.
Mr. Tamari met the delegation from Uganda together with Sucafina Chief Financial Officer Mr. Phillipe Penet while Mr. Ggoobi’s delegation included Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Amb. Arthur Kafeero, Commissioner Economic Development, Policy and Research, Mr. Joseph Enyimu and Mr. Moses Kabanda, Commissioner Public Administration in the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Head of Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Margaret Kafeero and Mr. Milwen Ewaru Economic and Commercial Diplomacy Officer at the Uganda Mission in Geneva.
