Quality Chemicals in US$80m expansion

Ugandan pharmaceutical giant, Quality Chemicals Industries Ltd, intends to invest US$80 million in two separate expansion programs over the next two years.

The pharmaceutical’s marketing manager George Baguma says that US$30 million is to expand capacity of the generic AIDS and malaria-drug plants and US$50 million for the production line for pharmaceutical ingredients. Currently, the Kampala-based plant has the capacity to produce 6 million malaria and generic AIDS tablets daily, with room for expansion.

Data from the Uganda AIDS Commission indicates that about 442,000 Ugandans require generic AIDS drugs but only 218,900 have access.
QC plans to start exports in four months when it completes registration of its products in neighboring Kenya.
The company is looking at shareholders and the sale of new stock as sources of the funding with prospects of listing on the bourse at future time.


Sameer to double milk processing
Sameer Agriculture and Livestock Limited, the producers of Fresh Dairy brand of products, intend to double milk production within five years and boost their exports to regional markets. The company that currently handles about 550,000 litres of milk per day but with a demand of 600,000 litres recently announced a US$15 million (over 34.5 billion) investment in a milk drying plant. The plant will process 300,000 litres of milk daily.  However, Managing Director Anoop Sharma, said that milk production in Uganda is low because there are a few commercial farmers. Uganda has about 2.5 million livestock farmers, 90% of whom are smallholders. The country produces 1.6 billion litres of milk annually, but of this, only 40% is processed, 45% is sold unprocessed and 15% is dumped. However, Sameer has initiated contract farming among cattle keepers to improve the situation. Under the incentive, member farmers are advanced money annually to buy farm inputs and, in return, the farmers sell their milk to the firm at pre-determined prices.

Tororo Cement to hit 2m tonnes
Tororo Cement Industry is to complete its Shs 100 billion (US$50m) facility to expand its production by June. With the expansion, the factory’s capacity will jump from the current 1 million tonnes to 2.2 million per annum. The company’s Chief Marketing Manager, Alok Kala, says that this may bring down the price of cement.
Tororo Cement’s main competitor, Hima Cement, recently launched a new plant that increased capacity from 350,000 tonnes a year to 850,000 tonnes a year.

Japanese firms boost Roofings
Roofings exports are to jump to US$70 million (about Shs161billion) and the plant’s output to 120,000 tonnes following an equity partnership with two Japanese steel companies. The US$100 million cold rolling mills phase is the largest segment of the three phase industry situated in the Namanve Industrial Park.
According to the deal, Yodogawa Steel Works and Fujiden International provides technology and skills transfer, training and affordable and high quality steel products and in turn takes a 10 percent equity stake in the third phase of Roofings’ cold rolling mills production line. The increased capacity also comes with 2,000 new jobs.
Half of the increased capacity will be exported to Rwanda, southern Sudan, Burundi, northern Tanzania and Kenya.

Centum to cross-list on USE
Kenya’s equity firm, Centum is next month poised to cross-list on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) increasing to seven the number of companies at the local bourse and the Nairobi Stock Exchange. Other cross-listed companies include: Kenya Airways, East Africa Breweries Limited, KCB, Equity Bank, Jubilee Holdings Limited and NMG. Centum also brings to 14 the companies trading on the local bourse.
James Mworia, the Centum CEO says the firm’s focus in the local market will be on sectors driven by domestic demand such as insurance, education publishing, beverage and real estate.

Joseph Kitamirike, the USE CEO said that Centum is the only cross-listed firm that will come with shares for Ugandans to trade. On the day of cross-listing in Uganda, the shares will open at the last traded price in Nairobi and about 4 million shares worth about Shs3.37 billion (US$1.5 million) are expected to be float