Power upgrade opens path from diesel bills to cassava buying in Uganda

Money spent keeping diesel generators running could soon help buy more cassava from Ugandan farmers. That is the prospect outlined by Dei Pharma proprietor Mathias Magoola after electricity upgrades brought the company’s processing plant in Namasagali, Kamuli District, closer to full-scale production, according to Daily Monitor Uganda (direct). For growers in the Busoga Sub-region, the change could mean a bigger buyer for their harvests.

The facility turns cassava into pharmaceutical-grade starch—starch suitable for making medicines—and industrial sugars including glucose, fructose and maltose. These are intended to supply pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing. But inadequate electricity had held back the plant, forcing it to rely on diesel generators because the available supply could not support operations at full capacity.

Removing the power bottleneck

During an October 2 visit, Minister Monica Musenero said the main electricity works were complete and the project had reached commissioning, the stage of checking and preparing equipment for operation. Her visit came about two weeks after she instructed Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited, or UEDCL, to tackle the supply problems. Some technical adjustments remained. Musenero stressed that a grid connection alone was not enough: factories needed steady electricity to avoid damage to machinery and disruption to stock.

UEDCL’s North Eastern regional manager, Paul Sempiira, said a separate transformer had been installed at Kamuli substation for the Namasagali line. The arrangement was designed to shield the plant from faults affecting other lines and improve supply quality. The line had also been connected to another line, allowing the factory to receive electricity while outstanding work continued. Sempiira said the plant could operate and the revised works would be completed on Sunday.

The two transformers serving the area have a combined capacity of about 7.5 megawatts, according to Sempiira. UEDCL considers that sufficient for both the town and the factory. For Magoola, the upgrade followed months of attempts to secure adequate electricity. He credited the minister, President Museveni and the utility with helping the company move towards sustained production.

Magoola said money previously spent on diesel would go towards buying cassava, and predicted that stronger demand would lift farmers’ prices.

A link in a wider manufacturing chain

The stakes extend beyond the Kamuli site. Magoola said the company’s planned pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing operations at Matugga, in Wakiso District, depend on starch and sugars produced at Namasagali. Resolving the electricity problem would therefore support a wider production chain, rather than simply allow one processing factory to increase output.

Dei Pharma has previously said it needs large quantities of cassava and has sourced the crop from different parts of Uganda. Magoola expects higher production to expand farmers’ market and encourage more planting. He said the company intends to make more than 100 cassava-derived products and is also exploring processing sweet potatoes and maize. The company has projected between 300 and 500 direct jobs at full-scale operations, alongside indirect work across the agricultural supply chain.

Local council leader Richard Mutuuya welcomed the upgrade, saying power shortages had also affected residents and businesses in Namasagali. The next test is whether the remaining electrical adjustments deliver the reliable supply the plant needs—and whether that translates into sustained processing and larger cassava purchases. Higher crop prices and the projected jobs remain expectations, not reported results.