Ugandan poultry farm Sekajja Agro clinches US$1.8m investment from Yield Uganda Investment Fund

UGANDA – Sekajja Agro Farms Limited (SAF), a Ugandan based poultry firm, has received UGX 6.79 billion (US$ 1.8 million) blended equity and long-term debt from Pearl Capital Partners’ managed fund, the Yield Uganda Investment.

According to Pearl Capital, this is the fund’s tenth investment in the Ugandan agribusiness sector, to include US$1.54 million investment in AMFRI Farms, a pioneering organic farming; and US$2.5 million support to Pura Organic Agro Tech Ltd, on the cassava value chain.

SAF’s main operations entails rearing of day-old-chicks (DOCs) until maturity and the distribution of the mature birds as live birds and dressed chicken in the informal and formal markets, respectively.

The business also operates a feed mill, an abattoir, a cold chain and branded retail outlets.

Yield Fund’s investment will facilitate SAF’s expansion plans which include scaling up its poultry production facilities and constructing a new feed mill.

The investment will also finance the expansion of SAF’s dressed chicken segment, covering the installation of a larger modern automated abattoir, cold chain facilities and spreading the footprint of SAF’s branded distribution outlets.

“This investment in the poultry value chain makes available much needed resources to the sector and agriculture in general, especially in a period where funding SMEs enterprises for growth has been constrained by a slowed down economy owing to the COVID 19 pandemic.

“The investment will go towards developing a modern poultry production and processing facility to serve a growing demand for high quality food in the Ugandan and East African markets,” David I Wangolo – Investment Manager at Pearl Capital Partners said.

According to Mr. Abbas Sekajja, owner of the company, the partnership will enable SAF to further scale up its current business model to new heights using the latest technologies in the poultry industry.

“This investment will see us have a new feed mill, abattoir, poultry farms all in one place while embracing industry standards and certifications like ISO, Halal Bureau, UNBS, and NEMA.

“We therefore thank all the Yield Fund Investors for this wonderful thought of setting up a Fund to support farmers especially the poultry farmers,” he said.

Alongside the Yield Fund’s investment, SAF has received the Business Development Support (BDS) matching grant facility of up to US$ 218,450 managed by IFAD to enhance both the technical and governance aspects of the business as well to ensure sustainable and prolonged growth and self-sustenance in the future.

The Yield Fund is an agri-business impact fund set up by the European Union (EU), through the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), the Open Society Foundation (OSF) and FCA Investments.

Richard Byarugaba, Managing Director – National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Uganda nssfug.org said, “The Investment in SAF points to the Fund’s focus on the areas that need to be improved for agriculture to become a catalyst for economic development – value addition across the chain and production at scale.

“Hopefully this can stimulate the necessary adjustments in the sector to attract more funding.”

Lakshi Moola, the IFAD Country Director Uganda remarked on the new investment saying, “Transformation happens when small-scale farmers are put at the centre, and the investment in Sekajja Agro Farms Limited provides us this opportunity.

“The investment we are making has great potential to enhance job creation and improve quality production for farmers benefiting from the company. With the additional support on business development, the company has a bright future ahead’.

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