By Our Reporter
Uganda Breweries Limited, which is celebrating its 75th Anniversary in Uganda has been recognised by the Ministry of Finance for the immense contributions made to Uganda’s socio-economic development.
The commendation was given by Hon. Henry Musasizi, the State Minister of Finance for General Duties during a high-level dinner hosting various stakeholders that have been a part of the brewer’s journey in Uganda.
He said, “Uganda Breweries spends over 45 billion Shillings annually in farming communities all over the country. This contribution to the agriculture sector is truly transformative in its impact on reducing unemployment in the country and also is a good push for the modernisation of agriculture which the government continues to champion.”
The business has made tremendous strides towards its socioeconomic agenda, leveraging on strategic partnerships to increase the scale and impact of its local sourcing initiative.
Alvin Mbugua, UBL’s outgoing Managing Director, said, “As we turned 70 years, we had one transformative partner in local sourcing – the Kapchorwa Commercial Farmers Association (KACOFA). Today, we have onboarded Kakira Sugar, Operation Wealth Creation, National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), Africa Innovation Institute, Private Sector Foundation (PSFU) and more, all of which are supporting our Buy Uganda Build Uganda (BUBU) and local sourcing agendas under NDP III.”
He added that in the last five years, the brewery has increased the number of farmers supplying sorghum, barley, cassava, corn start and sugar from 14,500 to 31,000 presently.
Japheth Katto, UBL’s Board Chairperson applauded the Government for the Buy Uganda Build Uganda (BUBU) Policy and called for its consistent application across the patch.
He said, “It is only through this that the country we will be able to attract and increase investments in sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing which are key pillars in driving Uganda’s socio-economic development.”
He lauded the UBL team for the significant milestone of marking 75 years of consistent operations in Uganda despite the various challenges experienced over the years.
“We are among the top 5 largest taxpayers in Uganda, having paid over UGX. 420 Billion in taxes in 2020 and have a strong regional presence. Our operations are built on strong governance, as part of East African Breweries Limited which is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) and cross-listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) and Dar-es-Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE); and Diageo Plc which is listed on the London and New York stock exchanges.”
He added that the company has planted an estimated 4.7 million trees planted since 2005, and under its scholarship program, sponsors disadvantaged students to progress to Tertiary Education with an annual expenditure of UGX. 1 Billion.
Early this year, the business extended support to over 2,000 outlets (bars and restaurants and their employees) worth $1 Million through the Raising the Bar program to put in place safety practices under stipulated SOPs. The support included handwashing kits, masks, temperature reading equipment, Point of Sale materials, communicating SOPs and training bar and restaurant staff in SOPs and Health guidelines.
