Tobacco firm set to invest Shs50b in northern Uganda

A tobacco farmer inspects his crops in Arua, northern Uganda. Pan African Tobacco Group has said it will invest about Shs50 billion in the region . FILE PHOTO

Kampala- Pan African Tobacco Group (PTG) has announced it would invest $20m (about Shs50b) in Arua, northern Uganda.

PTG founder Tribert Rujugiro Ayabatwa has said the multimillion dollar investment is looking to expand the company’s processing and production operations which will create 700 direct new jobs.

The investment is expected to support thousands more throughout East Africa.
“The $20m investment will allow for construction of a new 30,000 square-metre warehouse and a new factory that will process 10 tonnes of green tobacco per hour.

PTG already has a strong presence in northern Uganda; it invests $18 million each year in tobacco farming in the area. That amount is expected to double over the next five years to meet demand,” Mr Ayabatwa told the Daily Monitor in an exclusive interview in South Africa recently.

The expansion, he said, would allow the company to create new jobs.
He also revealed that the project will create 100 permanent and 600 seasonal jobs in northern Uganda. It will be supporting another 6,000 tobacco farmers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 3,000 in South Sudan, and 14,000 in Uganda.

“This new expansion into Uganda will allow us to farm and process tobacco more efficiently and cost effectively. I couldn’t be more delighted about this investment,” Mr Ayabatwa said.

PTG produces five distinct tobacco brands - Forum, Supermatch, Peterfield, Legends and Yes - which are manufactured and marketed throughout Africa. The brands are sold in 27 of the continent’s 54 nations, including almost all of sub-Saharan Africa.

The company currently employs more than 10,000 people across Africa.
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