Exploring health sector health

The greatest legacy is that which benefits the widest number of people for the longest period without limit to value. Touching many lives and restoring hope to an African problem through business is what Mr Emmanuel Katongole, the chief executive officer of Quality Chemicals Limited, has been able to achieve.

Mr Katongole is an equal shareholder with five other partners in a $77 million company that produces ARVs and anti-malarial drugs. The plant is situated in Luzira Industrial Park producing over 2 million tablets daily.

Mr Katongole believes the whole venture has been built around total determination, rejecting fear of the unknown, proper planning, good partnerships and discipline.
Born 48-years ago in Bulera - a remote village in Mityana District – Katongole attended primary school in remote schools but this did not deter him from excelling as he later earned himself a place at Namilyango College. He, however, completed high school from Kampala High School.

At the university, the youthful Katongole took a strategic decision and changed courses to Bachelor of Statistics and Economics from Bachelor of Engineering.
“This was because I had developed love for economics,” he says.

He kicked off his career as a sales assistant in Sembule Group and was later promoted to marketing officer and finally as the assistant general manager for Sembule Electronics, later becoming the full general manager until 1997.

“Having worked in this company for over 10 years; I felt I had acquired enough expertise. Motivated by the government’s strategy to encourage young men to start business, I joined five friends with whom we started Quality Chemicals Limited,” he recalls.

Initially, the business was dealing in animal health care. In their first year, they had a turnover of over Shs1 billion and by the end of their fifth year, it had grown to Shs7 billion employing about 35 people.

The turning point came in 2001 when they diversified into human pharmaceuticals having partnered with Cipla Limited - an Indian leading pharmaceutical company.
“This was the time when there was a push for treatment of HIV/Aids and malaria in the country. We found ourselves very strategically fit into the equation because Cipla was the first company to manufacture a Triple Therapy combination medicine for HIV/Aids in the world,” he says.

In 2005, Katongole and his partners ventured into the manufacture of ARVs. Because it was a huge capital investment; they partnered with Cipla Limited which provided the technology and the government of Uganda to start although the government eventually sold off its shares and pulled out.

The company is into a joint venture with two other private equity firms, a South African Capital Works Investment Corporation and UK-based TLG Capital. “I have been blessed to be at the fore-front and together with my partners have touched lives of many people and this gives us pride,” he says.

Challenges
The company, however, suffers dumping especially from Asian countries like China, India and Thailand who massively subsidise their exports to Uganda by almost 40 per cent exports.

“This makes us the local manufacturers irrelevant when it comes to pricing;” he said.
Developed multinationals bringing in their products to poor countries in form of corporate social responsibility has presented a huge challenge to the company.
“They flood the market with products nearly free of charge and this kills local industries,” he says.

This coupled with the cost of doing business in Uganda especially with the high cost of power, which is unreliable and insufficient leaves them uncompetitive.

Progress
However, with all the hiccups, the company is progressing steadily. Last year, they recorded a Shs60 billion turnover and they expect a double figure this year to Shs120 billion against the plant’s total capacity of Shs150 billion. The company employs over 300 Ugandans working mainly as biologists, industrial chemists, pharmacists and micro-biologists.

They intend to employ more when the second phase of the plant takes off to allow them meet the need of greater Sub-Saharan Africa. This stage, which is at an advanced level, will see the company start producing its own Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient - A raw material they have been importing.