Ugandan businessman Abid Alam’s Kassanda Sugar Factory slated to launch production on Sept. 1

Ugandan businessman Abid Alam’s Kassanda Sugar Factory is set to launch production on Sept. 1. The factory has an installed sugar milling capacity of about 1,500 tonnes of sugarcane per day.

Construction commenced in December 2019 following the establishment of Kassanda Sugar Ltd. as a subsidiary of Alam’s manufacturing conglomerate, Alam Group. The total investment for the factory plus land capital and development was $40 million.

The sugar factory is the first in Uganda’s central region.

The project is aimed at addressing the growing demand for sugar products in Uganda.

According to RedPepper, Kassanda Sugar could create direct employment for thousands of casual laborers and outgrowers within the Kassanda District and in Uganda at large.

In a bid to ensure the factory’s success, Kassanda Sugar will leverage strong relations between growers and processing factory workers by structuring its outgrower scheme.

Under the scheme, the group has already started registering and training 300 outgrowers in the Kassanda District and surrounding the Lake Wamala region.

Plans are currently being made to get 1,000 growers registered with the company.

Alam Group

Alam Group is a privately owned manufacturing conglomerate in Uganda, with subsidiaries in Kenya and Rwanda.

The group established Kaliro Sugar Ltd. in 2011 to meet regional deficits and in a move to make Uganda sugar self-sufficient. Its latest investment consolidates this effort.

The group is one of the largest employers in Uganda.

Alam Group has developed into a significant player in Uganda with operations in steel manufacturing, aluminum and sugar processing, electricity generation, floriculture, real estate development and management, among other activities.