Who is Amos Nzeyi? Flash Uganda Media looks at his biography, age, wife, family, tribe, achievements, and relationship with the National Housing & Construction Company (NHCC), Hot Loaf Bakery, bottle crown manufacturing company, Dan Kigozi, Chris Kayoboke, Palm Valley Golf & Country Club, and the early life and education of the current chairman of Crown Beverages Limited’s board of directors
Amos Nzeyi is a famous Ugandan entrepreneur, businessman, and manufacturer. He is one of the tycoons in Uganda.
Nzeyi is the current chairman of Crown Beverages Limited’s board of directors, a blue chip beverage firm that manufactures luxury carbonated soft beverages such as Pepsi, Mirinda, Mountain Dew, Sting, Evervess, and Nivana Mineral Water.
Early Life and Education
Amos Nzeyi was born into a humble family in Kabale, Kigazi district, Uganda, in 1947.
His father worked at White Inn, one of Kabazi’s oldest hotels. He did not receive basic education due to a lack of school fees.
He began selling eggs when he was in primary school. Nzeyi later changed course after realising he was losing money and began selling buns and mandazi, which proved to be more profitable.
After finishing primary school, he was asked to Kampala his brother to join him at Kalolo High School, but he was unable to enrol due to a lack of school fees.
He subsequently started marketing penicillin tablets to treat gonorrhoea, which was common at the time. He afterwards moved to Mbarara town to work on the Mbarara-Katunguru road construction project as a ‘Spanner lad.’
He worked there for over three years and then quit to start his own real estate company after learning the necessary skills.
Career and Professional Work Experience
Amos Nzeyi then began trading food from Kinkizi in Kanungu District to Kabale, supplying schools and marketplaces. He began supplying the National Housing & Construction Company (NHCC) estates after venturing into the timber business.
The government charged NHCC with developing various housing estates in Kampala’s best neighbourhoods such as Bukoto, Kyambogo, and Ntinda. This venture enabled him to save enough money to purchase trucks.
He would eventually reinvest his earnings in motocross, one of his hobbies. During Idi Amin’s presidency in the 1970s, Uganda hosted the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit rally, which Amos won.
Idi Amin was not pleased, and Amos fled to Kenya with his trucks. While in Kenya, he founded a transport firm that grew to include over 250 trucks.
After his son was diagnosed with cancer and required urgent treatment for roughly two years, Amos and his family opted to move to the United Kingdom. While in the UK, he began purchasing derelict buildings that he would renovate and resell for a profit.
In 1986, Nzeyi returned to Uganda. He realised the country had no bread. He purchased baking equipment and opened Hot Loaf Bakery, Kampala’s only bakery by then.
He then established a bottle crown manufacturing company, which was later hired to provide Pepsi with bottle crowns.
The government was urged by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to privatise government parastatals. Amos, along with his friends the late Dan Kigozi and Chris Kayoboke, won the contract to run Lake Victoria Bottling Company, which they eventually renamed Crown Beverages Limited (CBL).
Crown Bottlers Limited 1997 formed a joint venture with International Pepsi Cola Bottling Investments Limited (IPCBI) of South Africa. IPCBI acquired 51 per cent of the company’s stock and took over management in the purchase.
However, in October 2001, Amos and his associates purchased 100 per cent of the corporation, taking control of the thriving business. Amos is now the dominant stakeholder with a 51 per cent interest and the Executive Chairman.
Achievements and Awards
Amos Nzeyi is a well-known businessman and entrepreneur whose career spans over 40 years. He is recognised for generating thousands of job possibilities for Ugandans as well as considerably contributing to the government’s tax collection through his businesses.
His net worth is believed to be USD57 million.
Amos Nzeyi has owned all or part of the following businesses:
Crown Beverages Limited, a Pepsi product bottler. He was chairman of the board and a part-owner as of April 2013.
Hot Loaf Bakery is a Kampala, Uganda-based private bakery. He is the company’s owner and the chairman of the board.
The White Horse Inn is a private hotel located in Kabale, Uganda. He was the only proprietor as of April 2015.
National Bank of Commerce, a small commercial bank created by private investors in 1991 has since been closed by the Bank of Uganda.
He is also the owner of Palm Valley Golf & Country Club, which is located near Bwabejja off Entebbe Road.
Since January 2011, he has been a shareholder in Brood (U) Ltd. Brood (U) Ltd was founded with the goal of offering healthier, more natural baked goods to Ugandans.
Nzeyi was the sole proprietor of Innscor Uganda Ltd from January 1999 until December 2016. Innscor Uganda Ltd is the name of several fast food and restaurant companies, including Chicken Royale, Pizza Royale, Peri Peri Royale, Scoop, and Mateo’s.
Nzeyi once co-owned Nandos Restaurant, a fast-food restaurant in the heart of Kampala.
He recently purchased Pineapple Bay Resort on Bulago Island, in Lake Victoria, as well as a yacht to accommodate his lavish lifestyle.
Other Contributions
Amos Nzeyi is a former member of the Uganda Development Bank’s board of directors as well as the Uganda Manufacturers’ Association’s (UMA) chairman.
Dr. Amos Nzeyi is the Mauritian Honorary Consul in Kampala, Uganda after the creation of the Consulate of Mauritius in the country in 2018.
As President of the Uganda Golf Union from January 2011 to December 2013, Nzeyi was recognised for rehabilitating a number of dilapidated courses across the country as well as championing the development of young golf in the country.
Furthermore, he was able to use his business connections to secure corporate sponsors, ensuring the National teams’ participation in a number of regional and international events and training camps.
Controversies
The National Bank of Commerce’s banking licence was withdrawn by the Bank of Uganda on September 27, 2012. Crane Bank, acting as administrator, took over the deposits and branches of NBC on behalf of the Bank of Uganda.
Amos Nzeyi filed a complaint against the Bank of Uganda (BoU) for liquidating the National Bank of Commerce (NBC) and selling its assets and liabilities to the defunct Crane Bank.
He claimed that NBC’s liquidation violated the Financial Institutions Act of 2004 and should be deemed null and void. He also wanted the central bank held accountable for failing to supervise the banking sector.
However, the lawsuit was dismissed with costs after Nzeyi failed to establish his allegations.
Nzeyi and Ugandan Security Minister Amama Mbabazi sold a tract of land covering 464 acres (1.88 km2) to the National Social Security Fund of Uganda (NSSF) in 2008 for US$12,000 per acre. The overall cost was $5,568,000 USD.
Following an investigation into the deal, known as the Temangalo Saga, inconsistencies were revealed. Because of this transaction, the NSSF’s managing director and his deputy were both fired. Following a cabinet upheaval, Minister of Finance Ezra Suruma, whose ministry was in charge of overseeing and sanctioning the transaction, was removed from the government.
The saga had not been concluded as of March 2010. Despite having paid for it in 2008, 272 acres (1.10 km2) of the land in question, including one of Nzeyi’s personal dwellings in that area, had yet to be transferred to NSSF.
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