About the company
Victoria Seeds Limited is a full-line seed company, based in Kampala, Uganda. The company plans to expand its operations to establish a seed research, production, marketing and extension business unit in Kirehe District of Rwanda with the goal of providing certified seeds of maize, rice, bush beans, soybeans and vegetables to smallholder farmers.
“…suddenly I spoke to Ethiopia, the border has vanished and I saw opportunities [there]. I spoke to Ghana, the border has vanished and I saw opportunity. So, this is the birth of the Common Free Trade Area. To me that is what I see and even though I couldn’t access financing in Uganda, at the Dealroom I’ve met prospective financers based in Canada, Cape Town, Nairobi and Nigeria.”
Josephine A. Okot, Managing Director, Victoria Seeds Limited
Their Agribusiness Dealroom experience
Josephine Okot (Managing Director, Victoria Seeds Limited) said the AGRA Dealroom was the best representation of the ACFTA at work. Okot, who had at least eight (8) Dealroom meetings, said AGRA was able to match-make SME’s and companies from so many African countries that it felt like country barriers had disappeared. “…suddenly I spoke to Ethiopia, the border has vanished and I saw opportunities [there]. I spoke to Ghana, the border has vanished and I saw opportunity. So, this is the birth of the Common Free Trade Area. To me that is what I see and even though I couldn’t access financing in Uganda, at the Dealroom I’ve met prospective financers based in Canada, Cape Town, Nairobi and Nigeria.”
According to her, many SMEs have no choice but to borrow from banks with high interest rates. However, the Dealroom offered them alternative financing choices aside from banks: “So what AGRA has done has exposed us to the different financing options outside commercial banks and to me this is the birth of ACFTA. The Common Free Trade Area has been born in the Dealroom of AGRA.” said Okot.
Victoria Seeds Limited was targeting US$3.2million from investors to help the company add value to its seeds before export. Although some investors said the target was below their investing benchmark, other investors assured her it is within their mandate so Okot left the agribusiness Dealroom hopeful that the negotiations would continue and result in funding for her company.
One aspect of the AGRF she loved most was the country presentations which according to her, were very targeted and brought out the opportunities in agriculture, allowing participants to see the low hanging fruits against which they could benchmark or invest in.