Atiak Sugar Factory Limited (ASFL), also Atiak Sugar Factory, or Atiak Sugar Limited, is a sugar manufacturing company in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

Location

The company's headquarters and main factory are located in Gem Village, Pachilo Parish, Atiak sub-county, Kilak County, in

Amuru District Amuru District is a Districts of Uganda, district in Northern Region, Uganda, Northern Uganda. Like most Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Amuru, Uganda, Amuru, where the district headquarters are located. Location Amuru Dis ...

, in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is approximately north of

Atiak Atiak is a town in the Northern Region of Uganda on the Gulu-Nimule Road, the primary trade route between Uganda and South Sudan. Location Atiak is in Kilak County the Amuru District. It is approximately , by road, north of Gulu, the largest cit ...

. Atiak Town is located approximately north of

Gulu Gulu is a city in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is the commercial and administrative centre of Gulu District. The coordinates of the city of Gulu are 2°46'54.0"N 32°17'57.0"E. The city's distance from Kampala, Uganda's capital and large ...

, the largest city in Northern Uganda.

Overview

The factory has the capacity to crush of raw sugar cane daily, producing of powder sugar annually. Commissioning of the factory was expected in May 2016, with first distribution of sugar planned for June 2017. The factory will employ over 1,500 people and has contracted with over 5,000 out-growers. The owners of the company have established a working relationship with ''Gulu Women Entrepreneurs Association Limited'' (GWEAL), whose objective is to develop Northern Uganda. In July 2017, the

government of Uganda The politics of Uganda occurs in an Authoritarianism, authoritarian context. Since assuming office in 1986 at the end of the Ugandan Bush War, Ugandan civil war, Yoweri Museveni has ruled Uganda as an Autocracy, autocrat. Political party, Politi ...

extended a credit facility of US$17.4 million (approx. USh62.65 billion) to Horyal Investments Holding Company Limited, the owner of Atiak Sugar Factory. The loan, according to Uganda's finance minister will help Horyal to finish construction, procure the sugar-manufacturing machinery and start sugar production. Amina Hersi Moghe, the Chief Executive Officer of Horyal, says the credit will "provide support to sugarcane out growers, offset the balance of procuring machines and restructure their loan period with

DFCU Bank DFCU Bank, registered as the Development Finance Company of Uganda Bank Limited, is a commercial bank in Uganda. It is licensed by the Bank of Uganda (BoU), Uganda's central bank and national banking regulator. Overview As of December 2022, DF ...

". A new commissioning date has been pushed to June 2019.

Construction

The supervising engineering company is ''Sugarnpower Projects Private Limited'', from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. An electricity co-generation plant with initial capacity of , expandable to , is incorporated in the design. As of July 2018, construction was estimated at 70 percent completed. At that time, Amina Morghe Hersi, had invested an estimated USh272 billion (US$70 million) and UDC had invested USh65 billion (US$17 million). In October 2019, the

Daily Monitor The ''Daily Monitor'' is an independent daily newspaper in Uganda. Launched in 1992 as ''The Monitor'', it established itself as a leading voice critical of the government and is one of the two largest national newspapers, alongside the state-ow ...

newspaper reported that completion was slated for the first quarter of 2020. In March 2020, Dr. Amina Moghe Hersi indicated that commissioning of the factory was slated for April 2020. In July 2020,

The Independent (Uganda) ''The Independent'' is a news magazine published in Kampala, Uganda. Overview The news magazine covers general and business news. It also has dedicated sections for news analysis, Eastern African regional news and a features section. It comes o ...

newspaper reported that commercial production would start in August 2020.

Production Halt

In March 2022, Atiak Sugar Factory in Amuru District temporarily shut down sugar production over inadequate cane supply. Although the factory was projected to shut down for a short time pending the production of more cane, the current projection points to 2025 when it's likely to resume. It is expected that when the factory resumes production in late 2024 or early 2025, it will rely on irrigation and mechanization to boost productivity and be able to crush 1,650 tonnes of raw cane daily. During the 2022/2023 financial year, the

Parliament of Uganda The Parliament of Uganda is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Uganda. One of its primary functions is to pass laws that support effective governance in the country. Government ministers are required to answer to the people's represe ...

approved USh108 billion (approx. US$28.5 million) to establish an irrigation system and procure machinery and mechanize some of the tasks, including land clearing, planting, weeding, harvesting and collection of harvested cane.

Ownership

The company is a subsidiary of ''Horyal Investment Holding Company Limited'', owned by Amina Moghe Hersi, a female Kenyan entrepreneur of Somali descent. In May 2018, the

, through the Uganda Development Corporation (UDC), took a 10.1 percent ownership in Atiak Sugar Factory, for an investment of USh20 billion (approximately US$5.5 million). In July 2018, UDC invested another USh45 billion (approx. US$11.6 million), thus raising its stake in the factory to 32 percent. In April 2019, the company requested another USh 24 billion (approx. US$6.5 million), in funding to complete construction of offices and staff houses, with opening planned for the second half of 2019. This would bring the governments shareholding to 44 percent. In September 2023, Ugandan print media indicated that Horyal Investments owned 51 percent and the Uganda Development Corporation owned 49 percent of the company shares.

Co-generation

When the factory opens, it is expected to have crushing capacity of 1,650 metric tonnes of sugarcane daily with co-generation of 6 megawatts of electricity. Future production is expected to increase to 3,500 metric tonnes of sugarcane daily with co-generation of 27 megawatts.

References

External links

Stop setting fire on Atiak sugarcane - Acholi chief
As of 18 February 2020.
How Uganda Overtook Kenya in Sugar Cane Production
As of 2 July 2020.
Pictorial: Development of Sugar Factory In Amuru
As of 23 July 2017. {{coord, 03, 25, 05, N, 32, 07, 52, E, display=title Food and drink companies established in 2016 2016 establishments in Uganda Ugandan brands Amuru District Northern Region, Uganda Sugar companies of Uganda Office buildings completed in 2020 Buildings and structures in Uganda