Uganda signs a coffee export deal with South Korea

Uganda's Besmark Coffee Company has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with South Korea's GVCC targeting annual exports of about 3,500 tonnes, the companies said after signing the deal in Kampala on 7 September.

Under the memorandum of understanding, Besmark becomes GVCC's exclusive coffee supplier from Uganda, while the Busan-based firm becomes the exclusive distributor for Besmark's coffee in South Korea. A first shipment of two 20-tonne containers is already on its way to Busan.

GVCC chief executive Soo-jung Lim said the company had been "ready to do business with Uganda" since meeting Ugandan exporters at a coffee exhibition in Busan. The partners plan to use the port city as a hub to reach buyers elsewhere in Asia, including Japan and Southeast Asia.

Uganda now looks past its usual buyers toward a new coffee route to Asia.

A push beyond Uganda's usual buyers

Uganda's Second Deputy Prime Minister, Dr Crispus Kiyonga, attended the signing and said Uganda wants to eventually add value to its coffee at home rather than continuing to export mostly raw beans. Ambassador Henry Mayega noted that coffee runs through Ugandan custom, including marriage and bride-price rites.

Asia has so far taken a small share of Uganda's coffee. The region accounted for just 13% of the country's exports in the 2024-25 coffee year, according to figures cited by officials at the signing, with Europe still the dominant market.

A record-setting exporter

Uganda exported 8.6 million 60-kilogram bags of coffee, worth about $2.3 billion, in the 12 months to May 2026. That overtook Ethiopia to make Uganda Africa's largest coffee exporter last year, and puts it among the world's six to eight biggest exporters by volume.

Robusta accounts for roughly 80% of Uganda's coffee exports, with Arabica making up a smaller but faster-growing share grown mostly on the slopes of Mount Elgon and the Rwenzori mountains. The South Korea deal did not specify which variety would make up the shipments.

Uganda's push comes as African producers more broadly seek better prices through direct trade, a strategy also behind the record price a Congolese cooperative fetched at a London auction this month.