By Kitts D.Mabonga
KAMPALA
Yesterday as Uganda was celebrating the 61st years of self-rule, Coffee Investment Consortium Uganda (CICU) was in Somalia Capital Mogadishu for the official launch of the first Ugandan branded special coffee beans. (CICU) is a private Ugandan organization spearheading the promotion and export of value-added coffee beans to the international markets.
The team that was represented by Nelson Tugume.the chairman board went with half a ton of high-quality roasted coffee beans to Somalia was launched marking the beginning of the long coffee export business journey between Uganda and Somalia under the Kampala – Mogadishu Trade Accord which is hosted by the Uganda trade mission in Mogadishu.
Among the brands that were launch include Nonda, Inspire Africa, Masha and Rubanga
The body is exclusively supported by the science technology and innovation secretariat office of the president in partnership with the private sector foundation Uganda (PSFU) which are mandated to ensure that they offer all the necessary technical and logistical support to help CICU market and effectively export Ugandan high quality roasted coffee beans to the international markets.
Speaking with East African Gazette on the sidelines of the ongoing 29th Uganda International Trade Fair UGITF 2023, CICU chief executive officer Tonny Miiro said ‘Somalia is a big potential coffee consumer partner in the region whose citizens consume up to 200Metric tons per month however we look at our government partners such as STI/OP among others for support to help CICU export up to 120MT with an expected increase to 200MT per month of high-quality roasted coffee beans.
‘’We expect to penetrate the global coffee markets very soon targeting the USA, Russia, Algeria, Nigeria, Ghana and Serbia among others as their export capacity is expected to shoot to 8,400MT cumulatively with each of the four coffee brands including Nonda Arabic, Rubanga Arabica, Masha and Inspire Africa contributing these export stocks respectively’’ said Miiro
Miiro applauded President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation [STI] Dr. Monica Musenero for their unwavering support which has enabled the funding of the construction of their coffee roasting, cleaning, processing and packaging factory located in Ntungamo district which is set for completion next February 2024.
He observed that they have partnered with the coffee farming communities among the districts within all the regions of the country which are strategic homes to the four CICU members with a view of building their capacities to ensure that they effectively and strictly follow and adhere to the set regulations of Uganda Coffee Development Authority [UCDA] for purposes of observing the strict global coffee handling standardization systems.
‘We have closely engaged our farmers across the country among the regions like Inspire Africa covering Ntungamo, Masha with headquarters in Kween district Sebie sub region for eastern Uganda with Rubanga covering Mitooma while Nonda is commanding the central region respectively’ he explained.
He said using the parish development model (PDM) approach system of government, they have reached out to farmers within these regions and sensitizing them about the good farming practices with a strategic aim of ensuring that they do not abuse the set rules of the game which is reason as to why we are slowly but steadily penetrating the coffee markets.
Taiwan Representative Office in the Republic of Somaliland H.E Allen Chen-hwa Lou praised the high-quality coffee product in Uganda
While on the courtesy visit to their pavilion (CICU) at Lugogo, Taiwan Representative Office in the Republic of Somaliland H.E Allen Chen-hwa Lou appreciated the high-quality coffee produced and marketed by CICU.
He called upon CICU, to urgently build strong networks with Taiwan in ensuring that efforts are reached to see that Ugandan roasted coffee beans products by CICU are exported to Taiwan given its high-quality standards accepted by the international standardization systems.
Ambassador Allen who was accompanied by a delegation from Taiwan earlier visited the pavilion of the 18 Taiwanese enterprises participating in the premier business development event in East Africa which shows determination and creativity to explore business and investment opportunities under Taiwan Africa project which is hosted by the Taiwan external Trade Development Council [TAITRA].
It was established that the Taiwan pavilion has been honored with the best country pavilion award for the second time which showcases an extensive array of products tailored to Uganda’s industries across four different categories including machinery, furniture hardware, and food and information technology among others.
WHAT YOU DID NOT KNOW ABOUT CICU
CICU works closely with Government, donors and co-private investors, with the aim to positively market Uganda’s coffee prices on global markets, to increase farmer’s incomes and national revenues. CICU achieves this working through the 5 result areas across the sector’s value chain this include Trade, Finance and Investment, Value addition, branding and marketing, Research and Development, Production and productivity, Strategic partnerships and regulation.
Situation of Uganda; s Coffee
In 2014, the government through (Uganda Coffee Development Authority) UCDA embarked on a countrywide drive to replant coffee in order to revive coffee production that had stagnated at 3.5 million bags. Through this coffee replanting programme, the government is pushing to have Uganda produce 20 million 60kg bags by 2025.
In Uganda coffee is grown by 1.7 million households in over 100 districts, the coffee industry employs over 5 million people through the coffee value chain related activities.
According to UCDA, Coffee exports for the 12 months (Financial year 2020/21) amounted to 6,078,638 60-kilo bags worth US$ 559.26 million compared to 5,105,881-kilo bags valued at US$ 496.28 million the previous year (Financial Year 2019/20). This represents 19.05% and 12.69% increase in both quantity and value respectively. The total quantity of exports in 12 months was the highest in 30 years
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