By David Rupiny
President Yoweri Museveni has commissioned a new fish feed factory, De Heus Uganda, reputed as the largest fish feed factory in East Africa. The factory is located in Buikwe District in central Uganda.
De Heus Uganda is a top fish feed factory and aquaculture feed supplier and is part of the Royal De Heus, a Dutch family-owned business with a 300-year history. It is reputed as one of the top 10 animal nutrition companies in the world.
President Museveni, while commissioning the factory, said the factory fills a vital gap in fish feed production, adding that he has allocated more land in Bukalasa for more fish feed production.
The President said the development follows his recent poverty eradication tour of the country, in which he found out that fish farmers had a challenge of accessing quality feeds, a gap that has been filled by the new factory.
Said the President: “This is really a very happy coincidence because recently I was touring the country checking on the progress of our Parish Development Programme in which fish farming is one of the seven activities for small farmers; coffee, fruits, dairy, food crops, poultry for eggs, piggery, and fish farming. I was told the problem with fish farming is getting the feed. But now this is a better solution than the one I was trying through the army company. First of all, these people are bringing in new capital from outside, which relieves us from finding budget money. I will now ring the army people and tell them to do other things. Secondly, these are the people with long experience in how to do it well.”
President Museveni said he is pleased that the initiative to shift farmers from rice cultivation in swamps to fish farming is gaining traction, protecting the River Nile and our water resources.
President Museveni said Europe can do a lot of investment and business in Uganda, noting that Africa has a ready market for manufactured products and services. He said he is happy the Netherlands has realized the importance of investment in Africa. He thanked the investors from the Netherlands for investing in Uganda and wished them good luck!
Co de Heus, the chief executive of De Heus Animal Nutrition, said in order to guarantee the success of their investments in Uganda and other developing countries, they established a professional support organisation in the Netherlands to ensure their foreign business units operate with the same level of professionalism as the parent company.
He said the professional support involves many disciplines – from formulation, product management, quality control, production, animal husbandry, training programmes, raw material procurement, to ICT and finance support.
De Heus said their investments have always focused on growing demand and the need for capital and know-how.
“I think this tricky investment field explains, to a larger extent, why we became successful and became one of the leading animal nutrition companies in the whole world, selling approximately 13 million tonnes of feed a year”, he said.
He noted that supplying fish farmers with quality feed and supporting them with services that make them better has also contributed to the success of their company.
Bon Tjeenk Willink, the Managing Director of De Heus Uganda, thanked President Museveni for supporting the investment, adding that they have had a presence in Uganda since 2018.
He said: “For the last two years, we have invested nearly 25 million dollars, and today, before you, stands the largest fish feed factory in East Africa. At full capacity, this facility can produce up to 100,000 tonnes of fish each year, supporting 7,000 to 10,000 jobs”.
The Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Uganda, Frederieke Quispel, commended the good working relationship between her country and Uganda that has enabled De Heus and other Dutch companies to successfully invest in Uganda.
“The collaboration between Uganda and the Netherlands is at its best. What makes both countries good partners, I think, is that we are both historical agricultural nations. Our economies are built on agriculture. The Netherlands is the largest foreign direct investor in Uganda”, she said.
The Ugandan Ambassador to the Netherlands, Mirjam Blaak Sow, hailed the Netherlands for its support and partnership with Uganda, which has enabled investments to flourish.
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