Saturday October 24, 2020
KAMPALA (HOL) - A joint sugar factory venture between Somali entrepreneur Amina Moghe Hersi and Ugandan government has opened its doors following the official opening of the factory by President Yoweri Museveni.
Atiak Sugar Factory which the CEO Amina Hersi describes as borne out of the battlefields in Uganda’s Amuru region was officially inaugurated b President Museveni Thursday.
Museveni hailed the project as critical in lifting thousands out of poverty and transforming an area once a battlefield between government forces and the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) into a field of investment.
The Ugandan leader praised Dr. Hersi terming her a hero. “Amina is a freedom fighter like Museveni because she does not give up," he said.
Through her company Horyal Trading Investment, Dr. Hersi set up the sugar factory in 2016 and later got a government support through a joint investment deal. According to the Ugandan authorities, the government holds a 40% stake in the sugar factory.
In an earlier interview this year, Dr. Hersi said the sugar factory was projected to produce 50,000 tonnes of sugar per day and generate up to 18MW of electricity.
The factory started production in August. Somalia’s Somalia's First Lady Saynab Abdi Moalim also attended the opening ceremony. Dr. Hersi was born in western Kenya and owns a vast line of investments in Uganda.