Farmers to benefit from aBi’s multi billion funding to agricultural businesses in Uganda

By John Kusolo

Agricultural Business Initiative Finance together with the European Union in Uganda, Danish Investment Fund for developing countries (IFU) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will facilitate the funding of agricultural businesses in Uganda.

Over 1.4 million Small scale farmers have already benefited from over Shs3.5 trillion availed by 65 financial institutions from Tier 1 to the lower Tier.

Agricultural Business Initiative –aBi is a social enterprise that channels development funding to agribusinesses and agriculture in Uganda.

Agricultural Business Initiative Development Finance CEO, Mona Muguma-Ssebuliba expressed that this occasion gives one time for reflection and it cultivates new business relationships which is fundamental to enhance wealth creation for farmers and environmental sustainability in agribusiness. She thanked the donors for contributing 17m Euros.

Agro processing and Value addition in agricultural production can take different forms and levels ranging from the basic to more sophisticated level e.g. packaging, processing, cooling, drying, extracting or any other type of processes that differentiates the product from the original raw commodity. Investment opportunities in agriculture and agro-processing are vast, ranging from cut flower production for exports, oil seed production and processing, cotton production, ginning, spinning and weaving, the production and processing of livestock products.

Opportunities for investment exist in:
Commercial farming in both crops and animal industries, as well as aquaculture, Value addition (Agro-industries -Agro-food industries, Manufacturing of inputs (fertilizers, pesticides etc), Cold storage facilities and logistics, Farm Machinery manufacturing and assembly, Packaging, and Irrigation Schemes.

The Agricultural Sector continues to be the most important sector in Uganda; it employs approximately 69% of the population and contributed about 26% to the GDP.

Agricultural Business Initiative (aBi) is a group of Companies namely aBi Trust and aBi Finance limited, and is a multi- stakeholder entity co-founded in July 2010 by the Governments of Denmark and Uganda with an objective to Promote Private Sector Agribusiness Development to Enhance Wealth Creation in Uganda.