Publication

Dual-Key Pipeline: Pristine Foods Limited (PFL)-Uganda

  • May 10, 2021

  • Publications, guides and communication materials

Summary

Pristine Foods Limited (PFL) is a start-up business located in Kireka, Wakiso district, Uganda, incorporated in July 2015. The business has initiated the process to venture into production of extended shelf life egg products with the core line of business being the manufacturing and sale of liquid, frozen and powdered egg products. PFL will be a pioneer in the region as the first company in East and Central Africa to provide regionally produced pasteurized and homogenized liquid egg products, that is, whole, egg whites and yolks in chilled or frozen form and powdered egg.

This investment is being featured by Michael Mboowa is the Local Finance Initivative investment officer in Uganda and supports ongoing programs .As an important actor of this project, he answered the following questions:

• What made you enthusiastic about this investment?

Having served for 4 years as the Chief Financial Officer for a poultry breeding company, I was incredibly excited to support UNCDF’s partnership project with Pristine Foods and assist them in rising to the forefront of Uganda’s poultry sector. The investment targeted longstanding challenges in the sector and helped to loosen bottlenecks in the poultry value chain. Through UNCDF’s support, Pristine foods was able to support smallholder poultry farms that lacked the means to foster and maintain steady supplier-buyer relationships. Partnering with Pristine Foods meant many of these farms, which were primarily used for subsistence in previous years, are ensured stable income and provided opportunities for growth. Beyond strengthening the supply chain, UNCDF was able to contribute the financial support and technical assistance needed for Pristine Foods to build its very own egg processing factory, the very first of its kind in East and Central Africa.

• What were the challenges faced by this project?

Despite all its successes, the project faced many challenges along the road. Project implementation stagnated as the entrepreneur ran out of capital and the targeted financer was unwilling to disburse the funds required to finish the project without adequate collateral. Thankfully, this roadblock was able to be addressed with a partial guarantee from UNCDF to unlock the financing. However, this required extensive dialogue with the entrepreneurs to agree on key project priorities before UNCDF’s guarantee could take effect.

• What are the lessons learned from this example?

This investment taught me that UNCDF’s guarantee instrument is critical for unlocking financing for startup investments since entrepreneurs rarely have sufficient collateral to cover the financing. It was encouraging to see how much financiers value our financial instruments and to what extent these instruments enabled the project to renegotiate its repayment terms even in light of the covid-19 pandemic.

About Michael Mboowa:

Prior to joining UNCDF, Michael was the Director – Financial Advisory at Bronkar (U) Ltd providing financial services to SMEs including; preparation for equity investments, business plans, financial analysis, assessment and implementation of internal controls.

He was also an Audit Senior at Deloitte East Africa prior to that.

He holds a Bachelor of Statistics; he is a Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (CPA).

Contact:

Michael.Mboowa@uncdf.org

Other publications in:

Publications, guides and communication materials

View publications