Bubbles O'Leary

Why is that almost every African capital city has at least one Irish theme pub? McGinty's, O'Hagan's, Finn McCool's, O'Tooles, the list is almost endless. A friend of mine suggested that their popularity has something to do with the widespread (but mythical) belief in many African countries that drinking Guinness increases sexual potency, but I think it has more to do with the famed Irish entrepreneurial and intrepid spirit.

Kampala is no exception to the rule. O'Leary's (fondly if inexplicably nicknamed Bubbles) has become the main watering hole for Kampala's expatriate community, plus, from time to time, a sprinkling of Kampala glitterati.

I frequent O'Leary's for the quiz night, held every second Thursday. The main prize for thiis rowdy event is to set the following quiz, but an alcoholic prize is also awarded to the winners of each round. Where two or more teams are tied in each round, a "Drink-off" is staged and the round awarded to the team whose representative is able to finish a 500 ml glass of beer first. Needless to say, the combination of cheap drinks, rowdy atmosphere, lack of enforcement of alcohol limits for drivers and a relatively young set of cash-rich expatriates ensures that the pub does excellent business well into the small hours.

Sadly, our quiz team disintegrated earlier this year, so we ploughed a lone furrow last night and did, at least, have the satisfaction of winning the "Dictators" theme round and, with it, six tots of Sambucca. Needless to say, the effort and effect of consuming the Sambucca resulted in a steady decline on the quiz leaderboard.....

A forgotten crime against humanity

Counterfeits, forgeries, illegal copies, fakes are mostly associated (at least in high income countries) with prestigious brands. For some, it has become a bit of a joke. Recently returned visitors to South East Asia, in particular, return, brandishing their fake Rolexes, Lacoste shirts and pirate DVDs with a degree of pride. "Look what I got - all this for $50..." A couple of years ago, I took the editor of ACCA's members' magazine, Accounting & Business, to task about an ill-judged travel article telling readers whereabouts in Bangkok (or Phnom Penh, I can't remember) was the best place to buy pirate copies and designer fakes..... only to be informed that it wasn't intended to be taken seriously, with an implicit suggestion that I was really being a bit of a sanctimonious killjoy.

In fact, it is a massively important and serious issue, especially in developing countries, where forgeries and fakes are not restricted to high-end discretionary expenditure, but cascade down to basic essentials, like seeds, crop protection products, medicines and cement. Here in Uganda, the press report that bags of cement are opened, adulterated with sand, and repackaged for sale to the unsuspecting public. Regrettably, it's become a fairly regular occurrence to hear of new buildings collapsing in Uganda, often with considerable loss of life. Likewise, we periodically hear of chalk dust, sugar and salt being marketed as antibiotics and of children's vaccines being adulterated - all to make a fast buck heedless of the long term consequences on individuals.

One of AAC's investees - Lachlan Kenya, a distributor of crop protection products - has frequently drawn my attention to the risk of counterfeiting in the Kenyan market. Lachlan addresses this risk by using special packaging (including holograms) and trying to educate its distributors, stockists and end-customers on the risks of using counterfeit products. But it's a difficult task, staying ahead of the counterfeiters, requiring annual investment in new packaging. In a recent conversation with the business, one representative estimated - to my astonishment - that more than 50% of crop protection products in Uganda were fake. Separately, one of our seed company investees in Uganda, NASECO, has reported that considerable quantities of seed products in the Ugandan market are actually no more than grain, dyed red to appear as if it has been treated with fungicides. From a business point of view, the existence of fake product is bad enough (as it affects confidence in the industry as a whole), but when fake product is packaged and sold in fake NASECO bags, it is potentially disastrous for the individual business.

The press assures us that the Ugandan Bureau of Standards is stepping up its activities against counterfeiting. This is good news (provided it is resourced adequately to carry out its quality inspections across the country - which I very much doubt) but much more needs to be done. In particular, purveyors of fake products must be brought to justice and punished severely. My view is that counterfeiting basic products like cement and agricultural inputs (and babymilk, as in the infamous melamine scandal) is tantamount to a crime against humanity: it is (in some cases) deadly, it is indiscriminate and it requires considerable planning and preparation. Left unchecked, counterfeiting destroys businesses, markets, industries and, in its worst form, lives.

At least in this regard, I don't mind being a sanctimonious killjoy.

World Biodiversity Day

May 22nd is World Biodiversity Day.

The trouble with "Days" like this is that there are far too many of them to keep track of, and this means that the ones which really matter - like World Biodiversity Day - are more often than not forgotten.

Hats off, therefore, to UNEP, the Global Environment Facility and the National Agricultural Research Organisation (of Uganda) for taking a 2-page spread in today's Ugandan newspapers drawing attention to World Biodiversity Day and highlighting the risks presented by (the wonderfully accurately named) Invasive Alien Species, among which are the attractive ornamental Lantana Camara (pictured above). An Invasive Alien is defined as one which is vectored by human transportation and "arrives, survives and thrives" at the expense of native organisms, usually because its natural enemies are absent from its new environment. Lantana is perennial, toxic to livestock, provides a good habitat for tsetse flies and, due to its fast-growing bushiness, crowds out other plants.

Uganda's remarkably benign and fertile environment makes it especially prone to plant invasion. The water hyacinth infestation of Lake Victoria in the 1990s is the most widely known, but other dangerous newcomers include the tree, Senna Spectabilis, the grass Cymbopogon Nardus and the flowering plant Parthenium Hysterophorus - all of which threaten Uganda's eco-systems.

As always, of course, the problem is exacerbated by ignorance, poor education and dissemination, and weak controls over planting material. Lantana Camara is still being widely planted as an ornamental in Kampala gardens, even in properly landscaped gardens. I took this picture earlier today at the entrance to the Kampala Serena Hotel.

What we really need is an "Uproot Lantana Camara Day", with rewards to schools and civil organisations for the greatest biomass collected. The trouble is, with so many other special "Days", would anyone notice?

Zain and the art of visual pollution

The Pearl of Africa is under attack. The land that is "Gifted by Nature" has now been afflicted by a truly hideous shade of pink, courtesy of the telecommunications giant, Zain. To borrow from its largest competitor's slogan, Zain pink is now "Everywhere you go" from Bugolobi market in Kampala (pictured above) to the smallest village in Northern Uganda. Zain's slogan is "A wonderful world". With that color?

The Zain group acquired the highly successful Celtel business in 2006. Hailed as Africa's largest ever private equity deal, Celtel had over its brief lifespan created a strong brand, despite an advertising campaign designed to upset a lover of the correct use of the English language. This campaign consisted of inane three word phrases and invariably included a full stop between the first and second words. For instance, Uganda residents were urged to "Make. New Friends." or "Change. Your World.". But I'd take the bad grammar over Zain Pink, any day.

In fairness, Zain is not the only painter of buildings in Uganda. Here's another example, from Namuwongo in Kampala:

MTN yellow is every bit as visible but, at least in my book, nothing like so offensive, and Warid red and Uganda Telecom blue are positively attractive.

Come back Celtel! All. Is Forgiven.

Uganda Cranes have won the cup!

Last night, Uganda's soccer team won the CECAFA cup, beating great rivals Kenya 1-0. An excellent result for the young Ugandan team and their new Scottish coach Bobby Williamson.

However, there was one disappointing aspect to the match - that it was not televised live on Uganda Broadcasting Corporation. This is because a pay-TV network, GTV, acquired the rights to screen the final. Subscription rates for GTV are well beyond the pockets of the vast majority of Ugandans. This meant that most people were compelled to go out to pubs and bars to watch the game live. What a shame that many people, especially the young and those outside Kampala, were denied access to viewing their country triumph in the final of the regional soccer championship.

The year of the potato

Here’s a copy of an unusual editorial piece from the Guardian newspaper in praise of solanum tuberosum – the potato. In Uganda, solanum tuberosum is usually known as the Irish potato, in order to clearly differentiate it from the unrelated sweet potato. Going by its origins, it would be more accurate to call it the Andean potato, but I suppose it reflects the tuber’s historical association with Ireland, where it became the principal staple crop in the 18th century – only 200 years after its introduction to Europe as part of the Columbian exchange – which largely involved the exchange of useful New World crops for Old World colonization, disease and slavery…… Unlike most cereal crops, the potato thrived in the poor soils and damp and cool conditions comprising much of Ireland. It is also highly productive and requires little labour after planting. Its adoption led to rapid population growth - at the onset of the Irish famine (caused by potato blight), Ireland’s population was, according to the 1841 census, slightly over 8 million. After the famine, it had fallen to about 5 million as a result of starvation and migration. Even today, its population is only about 6 million which makes it, by my reckoning, one of the very few, if not the only, countries in the world to have had a population decline since the mid-nineteenth century.

A member of the normally toxic nightshade family,“in the wild,[Solanum Tuberosum] is a package of poisonous alkaloids. Stone age agronomists nurtured it, modified its genome and turned it into a staple in the Andes more than 8,000 years ago. Four hundred years ago, Spanish conquistadors brought it to Europe as a curiosity. Milliners used the flowers, soldiers carried it as animal feed and the people of Besançon were convinced that it spread leprosy. Yet, in the past 300 years, the potato has become the world's biggest non-grain staple. It took a trick by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette - they ostentatiously guarded a court crop - to make suspicious Parisians salivate for potage du Barry and potatoes parmentier. In the last two centuries, growers have developed 3,000 varieties and introduced the crop to almost every human habitat. The uber-tuber is hardy, versatile and nourishing. It can be cloned or grown from seed, it may be roasted, fried, baked, boiled or turned into flour, and it can be kept through the winter. It can be served as soup, soufflé, main course, side dish or even as a vodka chaser. King Edward, Desiree, Maris Piper and the other 80 varieties of potato grown in Britain contain almost all the vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates and micronutrients necessary for survival. The tuber's blandness may be its strength: dieters may disapprove, but does anybody actively dislike its taste? The United Nations declared 2008 the International Year of the Potato. The celebration is on the wane, but Solanum tuberosum waxes stronger than ever.”

It is fascinating to wonder what drove those stone age Andean agronomists to experiment with and develop the tuber. What techniques did they use? How did they record and analyse the results? How grateful we should be for their perseverance!

On a more mundane level, another thing that interests me is exactly why the Irish potatoes we buy from Kampala markets taste so delicious – and so much better than most European potatoes. Is it because of growing conditions, variety selection or some other factor? Any answers gratefully received.

Kampala amateur dramatics

Next week, we will be staging the annual pantomime at the National Theatre in Kampala. In an ill-advised moment of conceit and goodwill, I volunteered to write and direct this year’s offering, Robin Hood of Mabira Forest. In theory, this sort of venture, once or twice a year, should come as a welcome and refreshing diversion from the day-to-day pressures of work. In practice – and I have had enough experience to know – it is painful, stressful and frequently disappointing. This production is no exception.

With less than a week to go before opening night, the failures are numerous. As yet, we have been unable to assemble the whole cast for any one rehearsal. To some extent, with a cast of 23 amateurs, this is inevitable, but it is nevertheless hugely frustrating. The programme is not yet ready. The set is not yet ready. The props are yet to be assembled. The costumes are not yet ready. The orchestra has not yet rehearsed….. “Don’t worry – it’s always like this…” “It’ll all come together next week…” It probably will, but it is profoundly unsatisfactory and, perhaps because I have written the script, personally disappointing, as I hear my beautifully-crafted dialogue mangled in ways that I never imagined possible.

The show probably will come together at the last minute, once the adrenalin of being in the theatre kicks in. Robin Hood is a great story and it translates very well to Uganda. In brief, the story begins with King Richard (otherwise fondly known as Big King Dickie) departing for war and entrusting his Kingdom of Uganda to his weak and feeble brother, Prince John. John and the Sheriff of Kampalaham invent the system of taxation, designed to take from the poor in the name of investment and development but in fact aiming to enrich the ruling class. Robin Hood, together with his band of merry women, emerge as a force who take back from the rich and give to the poor. Mabira Forest, so recently under threat of partial destruction to create land for commercial sugar cane production, is their home. The story includes the obligatory romance between Robin Hood (the Principal Boy) and Maid Marion – and Maid Marion’s mother, the Widow Winterbottom, known to her friends as Booty, provides the role of the Dame. I am lucky enough to have some great performers in the cast: Dick Stockley as the Sheriff, Barbara Kasekende as Marion and David Griffiths as the Dame all spring to mind, but somehow the whole seems to be less, rather than more, than the sum of its parts.

Will I do it again? Never! Or at least until the memory has faded to create a sufficently warm and blurry mental picture. If history is anything to go by, I will be back in the theatre, tearing my hair out, in about nine months’ time.

Amaranth and the history of crops

AAC has recently made an investment in a Kenyan business called Amaranth International. This business buys grain amaranth from small farmers in Kenya and Uganda, processes it into flour and popped cereal and markets it under the “Ama” brand throughout Kenya.

Amaranth is a grain that didn’t feature on my childhood dinner table, but it’s becoming more and more popular. In Europe, it is being used increasingly as an ingredient in breads and breakfast cereals. Known as “Terere” in Kenya, it is gaining market share due to its nutritional qualities. It’s gluten-free, a significant source of protein, and has high levels of lysine (an amino acid rare in other grains). It’s also high in iron, with a 1/4 cup containing 60% of an adult’s recommended daily allowance.

Here’s a picture of the plant.

Quite apart from its nutritional qualities, it is also relatively easy to cultivate. In Kenya, farmers can produce three or even four crops annually. It is drought-resistant and currently sells at the farm gate for prices much higher than for maize (the principal staple food). Perhaps most importantly, from a business perspective, it also tastes good!

There are numerous different varieties of Amaranth around the world, many of which have been historically important as staple crops. Most famously, it was grown by the Aztecs in central America, where it formed a staple part of the Aztec diet. As a key part of Aztec religious ceremonies, it was banned by the Conquistadores, but luckily survived in the wild. It is now making a comeback in Latin America. At this point, I have a confession to make. Ever since I read a wonderful book called “Seeds of Change” by Henry Hobhouse, I have found the history of food crops incredibly interesting. This book, which sadly I think is now out of print, discusses five crops which changed the world: cotton, potatoes, tea, quinine and sugar. Each history is fascinating. Maybe some day, a scholar will tell the story of amaranth.

In praise of Ugandan lunches

Every day, lunch is delivered to the AAC & Kilimo Trust offices. With minor variations, it is always the same: fish stew, matooke (pulped cooking bananas), rice and other carbohydrates, fresh vegetables, beans and either a beef of chicken stew, together with some fresh fruit to follow. It may not sound very exciting, but three factors make it the best regular lunch I have ever had:
1. Freshness: all the ingredients are completely fresh - and most grown without the use of many chemicals or fertilisers.
2. Matooke: a fantastic staple food, packed full of fibre, and incredibly good for digestion
3. Pearl Chilli and Garlic sauce: manufactured in Uganda by Reco Industries in Kasese and quite honestly the best bottled sauce anywhere on the planet.
Marvellous, low-cost, fresh and healthy - how food should be. My advice: eat Ugandan!

AAC enters the blogosphere

My name is Tom Adlam and I am lucky enough to be managing African Agricultural Capital: an Investment Fund for - as the name suggests - agriculture-related businesses in East Africa. My team and I are based in Kampala, Uganda, and you can find more information at http://www.aac.co.ke/.

I want to use this blog to share personal experiences and information about business, working and living in East Africa with all of you out there who are interested. It is important for me, at this point, to stress that the views and opinions expressed in this blog are my own and in no way represent the views and opinions of African Agricultural Capital as an organisation. I will probably try to post a weekly update.

The inspiration for this blog comes from one of our investee companies, Sandstorm Africa (see http://www.sandstormkenya.com/) whose CEO Mark Stephenson has recently started his own blog. It's a fascinating read which you can find at http://www.sandbagman.blogspot.com/.

And, at least for today, that's about it. More news to follow soon.