President Yoweri Museveni has commissioned a USD50 million cassava starch processing plant in Namasagali, Kamuli District, marking a major milestone in Uganda’s push toward industrialization and pharmaceutical self-reliance.
The facility, spearheaded by Ugandan scientist and entrepreneur Dr.Matthias Magoola under Dei BioPharma Ltd., forms the first phase of what is projected to become Africa’s largest industrial park dedicated to pharmaceutical and food-grade processing.
In a ceremonial gesture to mark the official opening, President Museveni who was accompanied by the First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Maama Janet Kataaha Museveni, cut a ribbon before touring the state-of-the-art facility, which is expected to drastically reduce Uganda’simport bill for pharmaceutical raw materials such as starch, glucose, maltose, and fructose, inputs that the country has historically relied on from foreign markets.
The Namasagali plant is designed to create over 40,000 direct and indirect jobs, support cassava farmers with a guaranteed market, and stimulate local industry by supplying key materials essential for drug manufacturing.
Dr. Magoola noted that the plant sits on over 5,000 acres and that partners had already mobilized approximately USD150 million for the project, with an ambitious long-term goal of transforming the area into a USD10 billion new city anchored by industrial science and innovation.
“We are producing five products – pharmaceutical grade starch, food grade starch, glucose, maltose, and fructose, and this is the largest on the African continent,” Dr. Magoola said.
President Museveni praised Dr. Magoola for his resilience and innovation, sharply criticizing individuals who had previously frustrated the scientist’s efforts.
“I want to congratulate Magoola as a very innovative young person,” President Museveni said.
“Africans don’t like innovation. They are used to sleeping. They don’t want new things. Africans need to critique themselves and support new individuals with innovative ideas because I know young people can have very good ideas. Even when I started fighting, some people thought I
was mad,” H.E. Museveni added, saying that Uganda’s indigenous knowledge, long overlooked, was increasingly proving its global value.
“These Americans have come here to support this work. Now all these other foreigners should know there is ancient knowledge here, and this knowledge can help the whole world. Regarding cassava, all these are gold mines because they are needed in the world. This is all wealth. But Africans are sleeping.”
However, President Museveni cautioned small landholders against blindly turning to cassava production for industrial use without understanding profitability.
“We must be clear about the earnings per acre per year. If it’s not much,we shouldn’t repeat the mistake of sugarcane, where people with small land copied those with huge chunks of land,” he advised.
On his part, Dr. Magoola revealed several groundbreaking projects under development at the industrial park. He disclosed that the company had secured a global patent for a foot-and-mouth disease vaccine – the first of its kind in the world, and was preparing to manufacture and supply the vaccine across Africa.
“We own a patent on a foot and mouth vaccine for the first time in the world. We’re going to be able to supply foot and mouth vaccines on the African continent for the first time,” Dr. Magoola noted.
He further announced plans for a 1,000-bed sickle cell hospital equipped to administer a cure approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), though currently unavailable in Africa due to high treatment costs.
Dr. Magoola also highlighted progress in developing Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs, among the most profitable pharmaceutical products globally because of their widespread use in diabetes and weight management. According to him, the USFDA had approved their
development plan, and the products could potentially inject USD15 billion into the Ugandan economy.
“This is his vision,” Dr. Magoola said of President Museveni, expressing gratitude for the Head of State’s support over the years.
“He has guided me as a young boy when I went to him with an innovation to treat malaria, and he believed in me. When taken to the United States, the malaria drug was found to kill more parasites than known drugs on the market.”
Dr. Magoola also confirmed that the government had committed more than USD200 million towards developing the Dei BioPharma facility in Matugga, another flagship pharmaceutical project.
The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Community Affairs, Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga commended the President and the innovators for the milestone, describing it as a testament to the NRM’s 2026 campaign theme of “protecting the gains.”
“In all the places you have moved into, this place emphasizes the NRM’s campaign theme of protecting the gains. This is one of the gains we are protecting because this was not here previously,” Rt Hon. Kadaga said, urging the government to expedite the power line from Isimba to support the expanding industrial base in the region.
The commissioning ceremony was attended by ministers, Members of Parliament, government officials, and leaders from the Busoga sub-region
