The President of São Tomé and Príncipe, H.E Carlos Manuel Vila Nova has visited Nyanza Perch Ltd, a fish processing and export company based in Jinja, Uganda.
H.E Vila Nova expressed gratitude towards President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for allowing him to visit the factory.
“I want to thank the Government of Uganda under the leadership of H.E. the President of the Republic of Uganda, for giving me the occasion to be here for these days and create the conditions to come here and visit this factory. Thank you very much, all of you,” he said.
The Nyanza Perch Ltd, Managing Director, Mr. Shahul Hameed, informed H.E Vila Nova that their factory is one of the first fish processing companies in Uganda.
He added that they process Nile Perch from Lake Victoria and produce around 20 tonnes of processed fish a day and 200 tonnes of finished products in a month.
“That is around 2,400 finished products in a year. We export mainly to Europe with the main countries being Portugal, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Romania and also to Turkey. We also export to the Middle East and Hong Kong,” Mr. Hameed explained.
“We employ over 80 people directly and indirectly we employ over 1,000 people,” he added.
Hameed further told the President that they are more concerned about sustainable fishery to ensure that the factory processes fish all year round.
“We don’t want the lake to be empty of fish, that is why we buy fish that measure 50 centimeters in size.”
He also stressed that they emphasized quality to sustain the market and follow international and domestic fishing regulations.
Nyanza Perch Limited is a Partnership Company incorporated in Uganda in May 2018 for fish processing and Export.
The company has acquired the processing facilities of Gomba Fishing Industries Ltd, Jinja, Uganda, who were the pioneers in Nile Perch Processing and Exporting in Uganda.
The facility has an EU approval No U03/18. The facility also has an approved Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system.
President Vila Nova ended his working visit to Uganda with a tour of Nyanza Textile Industries Limited (Nytil), an integrated textile manufacturing company, situated in Buikwe District.
He was guided around the factory by the company’s General Manager, Mr. Vinay Kumar.
The event was also attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gen. Jeje Odongo, and the Director General of External Security Organization (ESO), Ambassador Joseph Ocwet.
After the tour at Nytil, H.E. Vila Nova left Uganda. While at Entebbe International Airport, he was seen off by Gen. Jeje Odongo.