COFFEE TOURISM BREWS IN NTUNGAMO! Inspire Africa Coffee Unveils 28 Products as Value Addition Takes Centre Stage
By Amos Tayebwa
Hundreds of thousands of people are being reached by the Inspire Africa Coffee project in Rwashamaire, Ntungamo District, as the facility continues to expand coffee processing, product development and tourism-related activities.
The project, which has recorded significant progress in product standardisation and value addition, is positioning Africa Coffee Park as a potential coffee tourism destination on the continent.
According to Nelson Tugume, the Chief Executive Officer of Inspire Africa Group, the project has undergone major physical and human resource transformation in only three years since its establishment.
Tugume said about 28 products have so far been innovated at the facility, with the company now looking at expanding coffee value addition for both the Ugandan market and export.
He said the company plans to produce a wider range of coffee products, including cold coffee and roasted coffee beans, among other products.
Tugume said Uganda and the wider African continent have an opportunity to use coffee not only as an agricultural commodity but also as a vehicle for showcasing the continent’s beauty, culture and heritage.
He is urging Ugandans to embrace value addition and work together to change the way the country’s coffee is produced, processed, consumed and marketed.
“The African continent and Uganda have the opportunity to showcase its beauty, the culture and the heritage in the coffee. The time is now to come on the war and fight together of adding value to Ugandan coffee,” Tugume said.
He added that Ugandans need to be educated about coffee and encouraged to appreciate locally processed products.
“We must stand together, we educate and make our people appreciate the kind of coffee that they need to take. I am looking forward to making sure we synergize, we partner with all our friends in the sports world to make sure we take coffee to the next level and ensure we take this processed coffee now to the next level, but also this has become a coffee tourism now,” he said.
Tugume was speaking during an event to award motorsport rally drivers at Africa Coffee Park in Rwashamaire, Ntungamo District.
The motorsport rally was organised on Saturday, August 8, 2026, by Inspire Africa Coffee in partnership with Mbarara Motor Club.
The rally, dubbed Autocross 4 Ntungamo, was held at Coffee Beach and the coffee plantation along the shores of Lake Nyabihoko.
The event was sponsored by Inspire Africa’s coffee cold brew drink and attracted thousands of local residents and motorsport fans.
The spectacle saw rally drivers navigate through coffee fields, creating an unusual combination of motorsport, agriculture and tourism.
For the organisers, the event demonstrated another possible form of value addition to coffee-growing areas by creating experiences that can attract visitors while promoting coffee.
The rally was organised by Seth Murari, the President of Mbarara Motor Club under the Federation of Motorsport Clubs of Uganda (FMU).
Murari said the decision to hold the rally in Ntungamo was influenced by the partnership with a potential sponsor as well as the club’s objective of taking motorsport closer to the people.
He said the event also provided an opportunity to promote coffee value addition and contribute to the development of coffee tourism.
The partnership between the coffee project and motorsport therefore provided a platform for residents and visitors to experience the coffee plantation in a different way, while also giving the sport greater visibility in the community.
Tugume said Inspire Africa Coffee is also preparing for a major coffee festival next year, which he expects to attract thousands of international visitors.
He called on Ugandans, particularly communities in Ntungamo, to prepare for the festival and identify ways of benefiting from the expected increase in visitors and economic activity.
“Next year the Inspire Africa Coffee will be hosting the Africa Coffee Festival to bring thousands and thousands of foreigners,” Tugume said.
He urged the local community to be strategic and prepare businesses and services that can benefit from the anticipated visitors.
He said the festival would be part of the company’s broader effort to develop coffee tourism, with coffee tourism products expected to be launched next year.
“This is the real actual coffee tourism,” Tugume said.
Tugume also pointed to what he described as visible economic changes around Rwashamaire since the establishment of the project.
He said the project has directly benefited thousands of people and contributed to making the town more active throughout the year.
“Thousands of people have directly benefited from our coffee project. The real effect of this project is tangible. For example, our little town Rwashamaire used to be a seasonal town, but right now it works January to December,” he said.
Tugume further claimed that land prices in the area had risen significantly, from about Shs20 million to as much as Shs300 million for some plots.
He presented the changes as an indication of the wider economic impact that the project is having on the surrounding community.
The project is also being presented as part of a longer-term ambition to establish Uganda and Africa as important destinations for coffee processing and tourism.
Tugume said that over the next 10 years, Inspire Africa Coffee wants to process coffee for international markets, attract millions of tourists through coffee tourism and create employment opportunities for young people.
He said the ambition was to eventually employ up to one million young people.
At Africa Coffee Park, processing and manufacturing activities are already taking place, although Tugume acknowledged that the project continues to face some challenges.
He identified water and power supply as some of the main challenges affecting operations at the facility.
According to Tugume, efforts are already being made to address the challenges, with optimism that they will be resolved within the next few months.
He said improved water and electricity supply would enable the facility to significantly increase its production capacity and begin producing larger volumes for the market.
Tugume used the occasion to renew his call for Uganda to reduce its dependence on exporting raw agricultural commodities.
He said greater emphasis should be placed on processing and manufacturing within the country so that Ugandans can benefit more from the value created from their agricultural products.
“I urge Ugandans to fight the curse of exporting raw material. I emphasize value addition on our products. Let’s consume our own products,” Tugume said.
He said Inspire Africa Coffee currently has the capacity to process 54,000 tonnes of coffee annually into different products.
Some of the products, he said, are already on the market, while others are expected to be introduced in Uganda and international markets.
The project has therefore positioned coffee processing, product innovation, sports and tourism as interconnected opportunities that can generate additional economic activity around coffee-growing communities.
The approach also seeks to broaden the meaning of coffee value addition beyond simply processing beans into finished products.
By hosting sporting events, festivals and other activities within the coffee-growing environment, the company hopes to create experiences that can attract both domestic and international visitors.
Dan Mukago, the Kiruhura District LC5 Chairman, who visited the project in Rwashamaire, said he had witnessed what he described as significant transformation in Ntungamo associated with the coffee project.
Mukago encouraged residents and other stakeholders to cooperate with Inspire Africa Coffee in order to help the project reach international markets.
He also spoke against what he described as attempts to sabotage the project, saying his visit had convinced him that there was investment and commitment at Africa Coffee Park.
“Everyone should be in support of Inspire Africa Coffee. What is happening here, I can tell you there is value for money and there is commitment,” Mukago said.
He said such investments could contribute to Uganda’s industrialisation by creating employment, promoting development and transforming communities.
“This is the only way we can turn Uganda an industrialized country where people can get employment, where people can get development and people can be transformed,” he said.
Mukago said he was impressed by what he had seen at the facility and viewed his visit as the beginning of a possible partnership between Inspire Africa and Kiruhura District.
He said he hoped to work with Tugume to learn from some of the technologies and methods being used at Africa Coffee Park and explore how similar approaches could contribute to development in Kiruhura.
“I am much impressed with what I have seen here and I hope my visiting marks the start of our journey with Inspire Africa. And I think I will take some of the methods from here with the help of my friend Nelson to see how Kiruhura can also get transformed and practice the new methods of technology,” Mukago said.
The developments at Africa Coffee Park come at a time when Uganda continues to pursue greater value addition in agriculture, with coffee remaining one of the country’s major agricultural exports.
For Inspire Africa Coffee, the focus is now on moving beyond the traditional model of producing and exporting coffee as a raw commodity.
The company says its expanding range of processed products, planned coffee tourism activities, sporting partnerships and the proposed Africa Coffee Festival are intended to create new ways for communities to benefit from the coffee value chain.
The Autocross 4 Ntungamo event offered an early example of that model, bringing motorsport fans into a coffee-growing environment and turning the plantation into part of the entertainment and tourism experience.
With the planned festival next year and the proposed launch of additional coffee tourism products, Inspire Africa Coffee hopes to attract more visitors to Rwashamaire and further develop the area as a destination built around coffee, culture, sport and tourism.
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