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Ugandan businessman Patrick Bitature, founder and chairman of Simba Group, lost a legal battle after the Court of Appeal ruled that South Africa’s Vantage Mezzanine Fund II Partnership can enforce a $10 million loan agreement without registering locally.
Court clears Vantage to enforce loan
A three-judge panel overturned a 2022 High Court decision that blocked Vantage from pursuing enforcement in Uganda on the grounds that it wasn’t registered under the Partnership Act or the Business Names Registration Act.
Justice Esta Nambayo, delivering the lead opinion, said lending to a Ugandan company does not amount to carrying on business in the country. “The mere act of lending money without a physical address in Uganda does not create an obligation for the appellant as a foreign lender to register,” she wrote.
Justice Fredrick Egonda-Ntende agreed, saying the lower court had no legal basis to find Vantage lacked capacity to sue. The Court also faulted the High Court for allowing Simba Group companies to join judicial review proceedings and ordered Bitature’s firms to pay legal costs at both the trial and appellate levels.
Dispute origins
The case stems from a 2014 transaction when Vantage advanced $10 million to Simba Properties Investment Co. Ltd., part of Bitature’s Simba Group, to finance expansion in real estate and hospitality. The mezzanine loan was secured by charges over Simba Telecom Ltd., Linda Properties Ltd., and Elgon Terrace Hotel Ltd., with share transfer documents executed in favor of the lender.
After Simba defaulted, the companies filed multiple suits in Uganda’s Commercial Division to block recovery. Those were dismissed in 2021, with arbitration ordered. Vantage later sought to enforce the share transfers through the Uganda Registration Services Bureau, which declined, citing lack of local registration. In 2022, Justice Musa Ssekaana upheld that position, finding Vantage had no standing. That ruling has now been overturned.
Court ruling adds strain on Bitature
For Vantage, one of Africa’s largest mezzanine funds, the ruling affirms that cross-border debt agreements can be enforced without additional registration in Uganda. For Bitature, it increases risks to his businesses at a time of fragile recovery.
Since founding Simba Group in 1998, Bitature has expanded into telecom, real estate, energy, agribusiness, and media, employing thousands across East Africa. The decision highlights the growing strain on regional entrepreneurs who borrowed internationally before the pandemic and now face tougher enforcement conditions.
The Court of Appeal decision adds pressure on Bitature, whose businesses are still recovering from pandemic-related losses. He has said COVID-19 lockdowns cut revenues and delayed repayments, framing the dispute as a test of Uganda’s approach to local borrowers dealing with foreign lenders.
Empire struggles under rising debts
Court documents, reviewed by Billionaires.Africa, show that the original $10 million debt has swelled to more than $30 million once interest and penalties were added. Bitature, his wife Carol Nzaro Bitature, and several Simba Group companies — including Simba Properties, Simba Telecom, Elgon Terrace Hotel, and Linda Properties — remain tied to the case.
His financial troubles have not been limited to Uganda. In 2024, a London court ordered Bitature and his firms to pay $65.7 million for breach of contract, including interest. Earlier this year, the Ugandan High Court also rejected his bid to cut a $1.5 million cost award to Vantage, instead directing that the amount be reassessed to reflect the full value of the case.
