Madhvani’s

 

One of the best-known business names in Uganda is the Madhvani Group, which employs over 10,000 people and is a major contributor to the government’s revenues. The Madhvani family, originally from India, has been in business in Uganda for more than half a century.

By the 1960s, the family had built a huge commercial empire in Uganda and East Africa. When Idi Amin expelled all the Asians in 1972, the Madhvanis fled to Britain. They did not return until the mid-1980s at the invitation of President Museveni. There was no sugarcane, the factory was looted, there were no roads and few people. But we took up the challenge because we thought this country had great potential in agriculture.

The Kakira Sugar Works at Jinja and the associated sugar plantations employ the majority of the 10,000 people who work for the group. Together with the outgrowers and their families, the Madhvani Group supports around 40,000 local people. The group provides free schooling, healthcare, training and scholarships to promising pupils. The family foundation has donated several buildings in Kampala to the government. Although initial financial support to rebuild the core of his industrial empire came partly from the government, Mr. Madhvani stresses that he is currently seeking to initiate joint ventures with foreign private investors ready to take advantage of the group’s widely diversified interests.

The range of products the company is involved in includes edible oils, confectionery and soap, as well as steel manufacturing, metal products, glassware, packaging, tea, flour, brewing, floriculture, insurance and a TV station. ‘’We are ideally positioned to identify partners who wish to do business in Uganda in some of these areas,’´ he adds.

The group’s core businesses, however, are based on agriculture and tourism ’· two sectors which Mr. Madhvani says Uganda has yet to exploit to the full. Tourism in Uganda is developing, but its still relatively virgin territory. ’´

The group owns two luxury hotels, the Paraa Safari Lodge in northern Uganda and the Mweya Safari Lodge in western Uganda, which is an ideal base from which to track mountain gorillas. One of the most important things we have in Uganda are the facilities for tracking gorillas. There are very few of these primates left in the world, and they are a big selling point, ’´ Mr. Madhvani says. He adds: We are not looking at Uganda as a main destination, but as a springboard for Kenya and Tanzania. Tourists can visit Uganda directly from there ’´ Mr. Madhvani wants to see easier access for tourists traveling between these east African countries. The government has got to set up a good infrastructure to encourage the free movement of tourists across the borders, ’´ he says.