US delegation tours the Africa Coffee Park in Uganda as the country pushes to grow coffee exports
By Sandra Nansbuga
US delegation tours the Africa Coffee Park in Uganda as the country pushes to grow coffee exports
United States Chargé d'Affaires in Uganda Mikael Cleverley visited the Africa Coffee Park in Ntungamo District as Uganda pushes to expand value-added coffee exports into the American market. The tour put a US spotlight on a facility built for very large volumes but currently running far below design capacity, the detail that matters most for buyers reading the signal.
Cleverley was received by Inspire Africa Group (IAG) chief executive Nelson Tugume, who led the delegation through the park's roasting, spray drying and freeze drying lines, which produce refined instant coffee and other coffee-based products, according to Edge Uganda. Tugume said the group would keep pursuing the American market, including a proposal to open a coffee shop in Woodstock, Chicago. He said expansion plans had been affected by travel restrictions linked to the current Ebola situation and called for dialogue on easing business travel. Cleverley voiced support for stronger bilateral trade and highlighted improved air connectivity.
The meeting was framed around the emerging US Trade Over Aid approach, with agriculture among the potential investment areas, Edge Uganda reported. Under that framework a Ugandan proposal, the Roosevelt Africa Trail, was presented in New York on 25 September as carrying an indicative $1.2 billion pipeline, including a coffee component aimed at moving Ugandan coffee beyond raw-bean exports into roasting, packaging and branded products for the US market, per Uganda Business News. That figure is an indicative value organisers assigned, not committed capital.
The harder number is capacity. Managers told MPs the park produces about 10 metric tonnes of coffee products a month against a design of up to 54,000 metric tonnes a year, blaming unreliable electricity, inadequate water and delayed government funding, The Nation reported. Full-capacity operation would need a dedicated industrial power connection and more than two million litres a day of purified, food-grade water. A parliamentary committee has separately backed a proposed Shs294 billion, about $79.2 million, expansion, with the park requiring roughly 10 megawatts to run flat out, per Uganda Online's account of the Nile Post report. The park is expected to make at least 27 coffee products, about half certified by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards, with roasted and ground coffee already in production.
| Attribute | Design | Reported now |
|---|---|---|
| Throughput | Up to 54,000 tonnes a year | About 10 tonnes a month |
| Power | About 10 megawatts | Unreliable supply cited |
| Water | Over 2 million litres a day | Inadequate supply cited |
What this means for buyers
Read this as a demand signal, not a supply guarantee. The US took about six percent of Ugandan coffee exports in marketing year 2024/25, against roughly 73 percent for the EU, according to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. A visit and a US-market coffee proposal point to effort to grow that share, but volume will not appear until the park's power, water and funding constraints are resolved. Uganda's export base also stays overwhelmingly green bean: the same report puts green beans at more than 98 percent of exports, forecast at 6.8 million bags in 2026/27. Value addition is policy, but the transition is designed to be gradual rather than an immediate ban, so green bean supply continues in the short to medium term. Treat capacity announcements as potential, not committed tonnes. For now, green coffee remains the reliable purchase.
FAQ
Q: How much coffee does the Africa Coffee Park actually process now?
A: Managers told Ugandan MPs the facility produces about 10 metric tonnes of coffee products a month against a design of up to 54,000 tonnes a year, per The Nation, blaming electricity, water and delayed funding.
Q: How big is the US market for Ugandan coffee?
A: The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service puts the United States at about six percent of Uganda's coffee exports in marketing year 2024/25, with the EU dominant at roughly 73 percent.
Q: Does Uganda's value-addition policy mean green coffee exports will stop?
A: No. The USDA FAS reports Uganda plans a gradual shift toward processed exports such as roasted and soluble coffee, but officials indicate the transition will be gradual rather than an immediate ban.
Sources: Edge Uganda | Uganda Business News | The Nation | Uganda Online | USDA Foreign Agricultural Service