Providing finance for entrepreneurs like Charles Nsubuga in Uganda

Charles Nsubuga is a passionate entrepreneur from Uganda. He has built a business selling soy products that have helped to improve the nutrition of his local community. And created over 90 jobs in the process.

The EU has helped him along the way, by supporting a project offering affordable loans to small businesses like his.

Now a new EU initiative called the External Investment Plan will allow us to support many more entrepreneurs like Charles, in Africa and in countries neighbouring the EU.

Charles’s challenge: improving people’s nutrition after years of conflict

Charles Nsubuga, 56, has always been an entrepreneur. Born and raised in Uganda, Charles was 16 years old when he left school and started working at a construction site.

One year later, the Uganda-Tanzania war began, leading to major political upheaval in Uganda and the ousting of President Idi Amin from power. In 1981, Charles was forced to flee to Kenya, where he did some lumbering for survival.

Five years later, Charles returned to Uganda, determined to forge a better future for himself and his family. Within a year, he had secured support from 20 shareholders and set up his own food processing company, Serve to Save Company (SESACO) with his wife, Juliet Babirye.

Workers in the headquarters of Serve to Save Company (SESACO)

At the time, Uganda was still dealing with the after effects of the war, so Charles decided to focus SESACO on the manufacturing of soy-based products to provide customers with a source of protein, B vitamins and minerals. “My mother helped me see potential in soy as a healthy alternative,” explains Charles. “She used to produce soy-based products in her kitchen and would offer these to her friends.”

Helping Charles expand his business and create jobs

SESACO’s investors were less convinced, however. Perceiving the market as limited, they withdrew their support from the company in 2003.

The company then experienced slow growth until 2017, when Charles and Juliet secured financing from an EU-backed project called Yield Uganda Fund Limited. The EU has contributed €10 million to this project, which invests in small and growing farming and food businesses in Uganda, such as SESACO.

It does so by using public money to:

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  cover a part of the project’s costs, combining EU grants with loans and other kinds of financing from development banks and private investors (a process known as ‘blending’)
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  raise more investment than might otherwise have been possible

The EU has successfully used this model for over ten years. Now the External Investment Plan will build on it to have an even greater impact.

Charles' business in figures

Charles and the EU: working together to support local farmers

“Since Yield Uganda’s investment, we have seen critical changes in the business,” says Charles. The surrounding community has benefited. The company employs over 90 people and plans to expand to 260 employees by 2022. More than 200 farmers have a reliable customer to supply their quality raw materials to at better prices.

It is expected that more than 2,500 local farmers will sign agreements with SESACO in the coming years.

Since Yield Uganda’s investment, we have seen critical changes in the business

Charles adds: “Government revenues will rise, and people’s nutrition will improve thanks to the products which SESACO makes.” Two thirds of Uganda’s population work in agriculture, so with blending projects such as the Yield Uganda Fund, the EU is helping to raise living standards for people across the country.