The story of Ssebagala & Sons: How it was saved from collapse

People walk outside the Ssebagala & Sons outlet on Kikuubo Lane in Kampala that in 2013 had been placed under management. photos by Rachel Mabala .

What you need to know:

In a continuation of our series, where we bring you closer to the life of Kampala’s business personalities, Dorothy Nakaweesi & Ismail Musa Ladu look at how last-minute interventions and negotiations saved Ssebagala & Sons from going under.

In January 2013, Ken Associates, acting on instructions from Crane Bank, placed Ssebagala & Sons under management, seeking to recover a Shs7b debt from the electronics dealer.
Crane Bank had grown impatient sensing a possibility that it would hit a dead end in its bid to recover monies owed to it.
In various correspondences written at the tail end of 2012 and early 2013, the bank had warned of “serious consequences” if Ssebagala & Sons continued to default on its loan obligation, arguing the status quo would necessitate them (Crane Bank) to move in on the business in order to recoup the Shs7b debt.
Indeed, on January 22, 2013 Crane Bank swung in action handing the business to Ken Associates with the task to recoup the monies.
However, after frantic and rigorous negotiations, Sudhir Ruparelia, the chairman of Crane Bank and a known business friend of Mohammad (Meddie) Ssebagala, the electronics dealership’s proprietor, rescinded the takeover, saving the company from yet another story of collapsing.
Sudhir Ruparelia in an interview confirmed the matter had been settled after several interventions.
Interviewed for this article, Ssebagala told us: “What is Shs7b? That is nothing! I have taken care of things that are much bigger than that.”
“…for your information this is now history, if you want you can cross-check with Crane Bank, I have cleared all that debt and I am in good books with them and Mr Sudhir,” he added.
But what had really happened?
In 2011, Ssebagala & Sons had started showing signs of financial stress after a difficult year of a volatile interest rate regime that seemed to have scorched the company’s balance sheet as well as eroding its ability to service loan obligations.
The year (2011) proved a difficult one for a number of businesses after a very expensive election year which nearly brought the economy to its knees.
Inflation for the first time in more than three decades spiralled to an all-time high of 30 per cent, driving interest rates to a market average of more than 30 per cent.
The banks had reacted to a rise in key lending rates by Bank of Uganda, which certainly had serious shocks on the general outlook of the economy, especially for businesses that were servicing loans.
Indeed Ssebagala & Sons seemed to have been caught in this maze with the company failing to meet due payment obligations and cutting back on a number of deals including advertisement, which, for a decade, had been its key driver.
Particularly, Ssebagala & Sons cut back on its long term publicity deals at Central Broadcasting Services (CBS) – the Buganda owned radio station, where the electronics dealership had for almost a decade sponsored a number of programmes.
This, although was an inevitable step, seemed to have affected the company, which principally had driven its brand on massive advertising and publicity.

Events after the takeover
After Ken Associates had swung in action, the two principals (Ssebagala & Sons and Crane Bank), this newspaper understands entered into negotiations as they sought to save the business from going under.
Information obtained from Ken Associates, who had been hired to manage the receivership, indicates the decision was on the same day (January 22, 2013) rescinded pending outcomes from negotiations involving key business personalities, officials from Ssebagala & Sons and Crane Bank.
The negotiations, according to available information, were spearheaded by key members of the Kwagalana Group, where Meddie Ssebagala is the vice chairman.
Kwagalana Group is a loose association of Kampala’s successful business personalities with notable members such as Sudhir Ruparelia, Brahim Muhammed Kibirige (BMK) and Godfrey Kirumiri, among others.
Thus, the electronic dealership’s loan repayment was rescheduled, allowing it more time to handle the situation.
Isa Ssekitto, the Kampala City Traders Association spokesman, confirmed that with interventions from friends in the Kwagalana Group, Crane Bank reviewed the repayment reschedule. This was also reinforced by his elder brother Nasser Ssebagala, who said “they (Kwagalana Group) reached an understanding to reschedule the loan.”
Indeed Crane Bank confirmed Ssebagala & Sons had since repaid the loan in its entirety.

Mohammad (Meddie) Ssebagala the brain behind the electronics dealership
From a very humble background, Meddie Ssebagala drafted himself into one of Kampala’s most astute businessmen, who by extension have changed Kampala’s businesses outlook.
Born in 1962 in a perceptive business family in Kisaasi, Kampala, Ssebagala refuses to disclose how many children he has, saying: “You cannot ask an African man how many children he has, but importantly I have children.”
He started his education at Kisaasi Primary, before moving to Kololo Secondary School for his high school education.
From Kololo Secondary School he moved to National College of Business Studies to pursue a diploma in Business Administration.
His was a purely humble beginning, launching his long business trade from his father’s stall at Nakasero Market, according to his elder brother and renowned politician, Nasser Ssebagala.
“It is from this stall (Nakasero) that we all learnt how to do business, so was Meddie,” Nasser Ssebagala told this newspaper in an interview.

The start of Meddie Ssebagala’s business journey
Because Meddie Ssebagala was more educated than the rest of his brothers, according to his elder brother, “he got more privileges than us”.
“He would go to Dubai to import rice and other items for the stall, which helped him to grow himself with a strong business personality,” Nasser Ssebagala says.
“… and before we all knew it, he had started the electronics shop,” he says.
Certainly, as Nasser Ssebagala says, Uganda’s electronics revolution arrived with the coming of Ssebagala & Sons Electro Centre, which by extension changed the outlook of Kampala’s lighting and electronics business.
Before then dealing in electrical appliances had been a rare business only reserved for giant franchises contracted by large multinationals in Asia and Europe.
However, in the early 2000s, Ssebagala & Sons changed the tide opening up a business that had been dominated by Indian, Chines and European traders.
By close of 2005, Ssebagala & Sons had established itself as a reference with its proprietor becoming a high table routine as well as an inspiration to a number of entrepreneurs.

Ssebagala’s other businesses

According to his elder brother (Nasser Ssebagala), Meddie Ssebagala is also involved in real estate with a number of properties under his name.
His brother says he has properties (both houses and land) in Ntinda, Kisaasi and Kololo, some of Kampala’s affluent surburbs.
He is the proprietor on World of Lights, an electronics shop in Kamwokya, Kampala.
Through Merryland, Meddie Ssebagala had also entered into fish exporting supplying mainly to Europe and Asia, however, the company was closed in the late 2000s.

Profile
Mohammad (Meddie) Ssebagala
Age. 53
Background. He was born in 1963 in Kisaasi, Kampala, Ssebagala.
Education. He started his education at Kisaasi Primary School, before moving to Kololo Secondary School for his high school education. From Kololo Secondary School he moved to National College of Business Studies to pursue a diploma in Business Administration.

What others say> Meddie Nsereko Ssebuliba

“For the years I have known Meddie Ssebagala, he is an exceptionally hardworking man, whose goal in life is achieving where others don’t believe they can,” says Meddie Nsereko Ssebuliba, a radio presenter at CBS, who says he met the family at Nakasero Market in downtown Kampala about three decades ago.
“They (Meddie Ssebagala and his brothers) used to help out their father - Shaban Sharif Ssebagala (RIP) in Nakasero Market and that is where I believe he built his business acumen,” he says.
The three brothers, including Meddie Ssebagala, Nasser Ssebagala and Latif Ssebagala, the current Kawempe North MP started out at Nakasero Market and have since horned themselves into prominence.
“It is a family of hardworking people,” Nsereko, who has since maintained close relations with the family, told this newspaper in an interview.
Similarly, Issa Ssekitto, the Kampala City Traders’ Association spokesman says Meddie Ssebagala is a role model to many considering his background.
“For someone who started business by selling onions and curry powder in Nakasero Market to get to that level is indeed a great achievement. He might have had some trouble but I believe he is a strong man capable of overcoming them,” he says.
“It doesn’t matter how many times you fall but in business, what counts is how you are able to stand up and I see a lot of potential in Meddie Ssebagala,” he says.