• High-level Saudi delegation hosted at State House Entebbe
• Year-long Gulf investment courting enters implementation phase
• Luwero Coffee Park positioned as flagship value-addition project

After more than a year of efforts to court Gulf investors, Uganda’s government has secured a major breakthrough with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, marking a significant step in turning long-standing investment talks into concrete value-addition projects for the country’s coffee sector. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni hosted a Saudi delegation in Entebbe on February 17, 2026, where discussions focused on strengthening bilateral cooperation through agro-industrial development, especially in coffee value addition, an area both countries agree has huge potential for job creation, export diversification and farmer income growth.

Uganda has actively been courting Gulf investment as part of its broader industrialisation agenda. Vice-President Jessica Alupo used forums such as the Future Investment Initiative Summit in Riyadh last year to pitch Uganda’s agro-industrial sector to Saudi investors and highlight opportunities in the coffee value chain. “Just as Uganda has strategically invested in Saudi Arabia through Nonda Commodities Limited, we invite reciprocal investment to strengthen this two-way partnership,” Alupo said last October, outlining how the Value-at-Source Coffee Project, a public-private partnership, is designed to turn Uganda into a key sourcing and industrial partner for coffee and related agro-industries.

President Museveni welcomed the delegation and commended them for recognising Uganda’s untapped investment potential. He observed that although Uganda and Saudi Arabia have maintained cordial relations for many years, both countries had not fully maximised available economic opportunities. “We have been working together for a long time, but we have not fully engaged to maximise our investment opportunities,” the President noted.

Central to the current cooperation is the Value-at-Source Coffee Project (VASP), a US$148-million initiative co-anchored by Ugandan firm Nonda Commodities and Saudi interests. One of its components is the proposed Luwero Coffee Park in Luwero District, envisioned as an integrated facility that will process, roast, grind, package and brand premium Ugandan coffee before export. The planned industrial complex is expected to handle 42,000 metric tonnes of coffee annually, generate up to USD 850 million in revenue, and create more than 1,500 direct jobs and 3,000 indirect jobs along logistics and retail linkages. It will also integrate more than 100,000 coffee farming households into structured supply chains, offering them access to stable off-take arrangements and higher value prices for quality beans.

Both countries note that this marks a transition from selling raw coffee beans to exporting branded finished products, a shift that could significantly boost farmers’ earnings, as Uganda’s coffee export value surged in recent years. Between June 2024 and May 2025, the country shipped more than 7 million 60-kg bags of coffee, generating nearly USD 2 billion in export earnings, a nearly 95 percent increase year-on-year. The project is also expected to among others, create approximately 1,500 direct jobs as well as generate about 3,000 indirect jobs in logistics, retail, and auxiliary services as well as integrate over 100,000 coffee farming households into a structured supply chain.

The Saudi market is equally seen as a strategic gateway to wider Gulf and Asian consumer markets where demand for speciality and roasted coffee is rising. Ugandan businesses have already begun tapping this opportunity, with the recent opening of the first Ugandan single-origin coffee café in Riyadh under the Value-at-Source initiative, signalling confidence in downstream demand and brand appeal.

President Museveni has repeatedly emphasised that moving up the value chain, from raw commodities to finished products, is critical for increasing export earnings, creating jobs and accelerating Uganda’s industrial development. The Saudi investment breakthrough follows government initiatives to allocate significant resources toward agro-industrialisation, including recent budget provisions that emphasise mechanisation, processing facilities and commercialisation in key agricultural sectors.

By Cynthia Ebot Takang