Museveni, Saudi Delegation Strike Deal to Expand Coffee Value Chain

By skika Reporter.

Uganda’s coffee farmers are poised to benefit from renewed investment talks between President Yoweri Museveni and a high-level delegation from the Saudi Arabia aimed at boosting value addition in the sector.

The Saudi team, led by Ali O Alswayeh, met the President at State House Entebbe on February 18, 2026, and reaffirmed commitment to expand investment in Uganda’s agricultural value chains, particularly coffee processing and export of finished products.

Mr Museveni welcomed the engagement, noting that while Uganda and Saudi Arabia have cooperated for years, more could be done to maximise investment opportunities. He emphasised that exporting finished goods instead of raw materials is key to increasing foreign exchange earnings, creating jobs and accelerating industrialisation.

Central to the discussions was the Value at Source Coffee Project (VASP), spearheaded by Nonda Coffee. The initiative seeks to transition Uganda from exporting raw beans to branded, high-value coffee products.

At the heart of the plan is the proposed Luwero Coffee Park in Luwero District, an integrated industrial complex projected to process 42,000 metric tons annually and generate about $850 million in revenue per year.

The facility will cover the full value chain, including cleaning, grading, roasting, grinding, soluble and specialty coffee production, packaging, branding and export.

The project is expected to create about 1,500 direct jobs, 3,000 indirect jobs in logistics and retail, and integrate more than 100,000 coffee farming households into a structured supply chain.

Uganda’s coffee sector remains a major source of export revenue and rural livelihoods but faces challenges such as price volatility, climate change, pests, diseases and limited value addition.

The Saudi market is viewed as a strategic gateway to the wider Middle East, one of the fastest-growing coffee consumption regions globally.

Both sides pledged to deepen cooperation in agro-processing, industrial development and market expansion as part of a broader push for investment-led growth.