Inspire Africa Group CEO Nelson Tugume says Uganda’s planned Smart Coffee City is expected to create over one million jobs within the next 10 years, building on the foundation already laid by the Africa Coffee Park in Ntungamo District.
Speaking on NBS Morning Breeze, Tugume said the project is designed to transform coffee from a traditional export crop into a driver of industrial growth, tourism and trade.
“Coffee is our heritage. It’s no longer just a cash crop. Coffee is now gold,” Tugume said.
The Africa Coffee Park in Ntungamo was developed as a modern coffee processing and value addition centre, aimed at supporting farmers, improving quality and increasing earnings. According to Tugume, the park was completed in about two years, demonstrating the impact of private sector investment.
“It has taken us about two years to pull off what you have seen at the coffee park. To me, that’s the power of the private sector,” he said.
The Coffee City project will integrate coffee processing, agro-value addition, tourism, logistics and technology within one ecosystem. Planned facilities include a world-class coffee processing plant, an agro-value addition centre, an IT park, exhibition and convention centres, sports and recreational facilities, a coffee tourism park and a dedicated international coffee airport, which has already broken ground.
At the centre of the project is a free trade zone intended to attract factories, technology hubs, logistics centres, schools and hospitals, supported by modern infrastructure and digital connectivity. Tugume said this approach will position Uganda as a regional hub for trade and innovation.
Job creation is a key pillar of the Coffee City vision. Tugume said employment opportunities will cut across construction, manufacturing, hospitality, technology and services, with more than one million people expected to be employed within a decade.
Coffee tourism is also expected to play a major role. Tugume said attracting visitors to coffee-growing communities could significantly boost national revenue.
“If we are able to bring even one million coffee tourists into our country, each spending 2,000 dollars, you can easily get two billion dollars,” he said.
“People need to appreciate where coffee is grown. They could go into the shambas and see how coffee is made.”
He also emphasised the importance of branding, packaging and local consumption of coffee.
“Branding and packaging of coffee is one of the value additions we must do as a country,” Tugume said.
“My call to Ugandans is to start consuming our own coffee.”
According to Inspire Africa Group, the Coffee City will be developed on about 15,000 acres, with a total estimated value of $6.3 billion. The project is expected to generate up to $5.3 billion in annual revenue within five years, positioning Uganda as a global player in coffee value addition.
For now, the Africa Coffee Park in Ntungamo remains the first major step in the broader Coffee City vision, showcasing Uganda’s growing capacity to process, standardise and add value to coffee for regional and international markets.
