Gen. Jeje Odongo, the Minister of Foreign Affairs addressing participants
The first ever Uganda-Saudi Arabia coffee expo 2021 took place today September 29, 2021, with calls for Uganda to tap into the virgin Middle East coffee market.
Themed “The Uganda Coffee Industry Perspective: farming, processing and export”, the virtual event was organized by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), Inspire Africa and the Federation of Saudi Chambers.
While giving opening remarks at Foreign Affairs Ministry in Kampala, Gen. Jeje Odongo, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said the expo enhances synergies towards the achievement of the aspirations of two countries to build more on the “already existing historical relationship.”
The Minister said Uganda is on course to attaining 20m 60kg bags of green coffee by 2025, up from 3.5m 60kg bags in 2014.
Odongo said Uganda coffee exports as well as husks to Saudi Arabia was a paltry US$419.3 during the year 2020.
“This situation needs to improve as, Saudi Arabia is the fastest growing coffee market in the Middle East. The market is projected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.2% during 2021-2027,” Odongo said, adding: “This is an opportunity for businessmen and women from both countries.”
The Minister urged investors to invest in Uganda’s coffee industry, noting that the country’s investment environment is great.
He also requested “Saudi brothers and friends to visit Uganda, the Pearl f Africa and also invest in the Ugandan coffee industry.”
Speaking from Riyadh, Ambassador of Uganda Embassy- Riyadh, Isaac Biruma Sebulime said there’s need to create the Saudi-Uganda Business Council, which he believes will be the ultimate vehicle to drive business between the two brotherly states.
“This is a historical occasion as, for the first time, businessmen from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Uganda have come together to chart ways of increasing trade between the two countries,” Ambassador Biruma said, adding: “What is even more significant is that we are targeting coffee, which is not only a commodity but an item of cultural significance in the two countries. It occupies a special position in human relations in our communities.”
He also reminded participants that Uganda is the birth place of Robusta.
He said figures from United Nations COMTRADE Database show that Saudi Arabia imported from Uganda goods worth US$6.85m in 2019 and Uganda imported from Saudi Arabia goods worth US$33.23m in the same year.
“While the Kingdom (of Saudi Arabia) had a larger variety of goods in her export basket, Uganda did not. The latter (Uganda) is exporting primary products like coffee, minerals, flowers and the like. Despite its abundance in Uganda, coffee was less than US$1m worth of this total,” he said, adding: “Our common membership of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) notwithstanding, the level of trade between the two countries is still very low. This expo is the first step in correcting this anomaly. Coffee holds a prime position in this effort.”
Eng. Saeed Ali, the Managing Director at Serene Roastery Riyadh, who represented Saudi Arabia coffee importers, said he started importing coffee from Uganda in 2016.
Asked why he chose to import it from Uganda, Ali said: Uganda has better quality coffee.”
He said he mainly deals with Speciality coffee. He said while Uganda has quality coffee, it’s less known because of limited marketing. He however said the trend is slowly changing as Uganda is aggressively marketing its coffee.
“Uganda should take advantage of international exhibitions. More people need to taste Uganda’s coffee. Its quality is unmatched,” he said.
On his part, Nelson Tugume, the CEO of Inspire Africa Coffee said coffee should be looked at as a beverage and that Uganda should aggressively market her quality coffee.
“Government should put money in marketing. The world roates around presenation; a good story,” he said, adding that Government should partner with the private sector to the golden crop.
He said flights from Uganda to Saudi Arabia are about 4.5 hours unlike some European and American markets. This, he said, means less costs of delivering coffee to the consumer.
He added that coffee consumption is set to increase globally, noting that America alone consumes 340m cups of coffee daily. He added that Chinese are also increasingly consuming coffee, with China’s population expected to hit 2bn people by 2025.
He added that coffee should be transformational and therefore every player should ensure that a farmer gets a better price.
Good opportunity for Uganda to market it’s coffee.