Kakira is a sugar cane grower based on the shores of Lake Victoria in Uganda – the source of the river Nile. Kakira is an exemplary producer in terms of true sustainability with a full selection of great spirits the most important being their solera aged Rums.

The founding principle of the brand was to decrease waste and carbon footprint during the sugar making process, and to increase revenue. Since then Kakira has grown substantially, producing award-winning spirits and creating a charitable fund for the local environment, wildlife, and water conservation in Uganda.

Kakira’s Past

Kakira Sugar (KSL) was founded in Jinja, Uganda, in 1930 by Muljibhai Madhvani and is now Uganda’s biggest sugar refinery, processing sugar from their own estate (40%) and local sugar farmer partnerships. Kakira forms part of the Madhvani Group, still run by Muljibhai’s son, Mayur, and grandson, Kamlesh.

100% Field to Bottle 

Kakira owns the entire production process from ‘field to bottle’ championing equitable and sustainable practises at every stage. Kakira estate grown sugar cane and estate grown botanicals come from the shores of Lake Victoria, Uganda. The cane sugar is then refined at the Kakira Sugar Refinery. Following this, the molasses are fermented, distilled and aged at the Kakira Distillery. The water used in the products come from a private feed from Lake Victoria, the source of the River Nile. Finally, all Kakira Distillery spirits are bottled at the Kakira Distillery.

100% Renewable Energy

The entire process is powered by 100% renewable electricity by one of the largest facilities of its kind in Africa. Kakira’s bagasse power plant produces a total of 51MW of electricity. This meets the entire energy needs of the refinery, the distillery and the estate and also supplies 32MW of sustainable green power to the Ugandan national grid. As bagasse is readily available as residue from sugarcane crushing, generating electricity at Kakira efficiently disposes of waste and does not put any extra demand on the environment. Additionally, KSL plants an average of 60,000 trees each year on the estate and farmers’ areas.

True African Spirit

• 100% African Craftmanship
• 100% African Ingredients
• 100% African Packaging
• 100% African Renewable Energy
• Made with the water from the source of the River Nile

Award Winning Quality

Since their release in 2022, Kakira Distillery products have been scooping international awards and winning recognition for quality and taste. Here are our most recent (2023) successes.

Kakira Silver Rum

SIP Awards Double Silver, European Spirits Challenge Silver, Monde Selection Silver

Kakira Gold Rum

SIP Awards Double Gold & Innovation Award, European Spirits Challenge Silver, Monde Selection Silver

Kakira Dark Rum

European Spirits Challenge Gold

Kakira Vodka

SIP Awards Double Gold, European Spirits Challenge Gold, Monde Selection Gold, IWSC Gold

Kakira Coffee Vodka

Monde Selection Gold, IWSC Bronze

Kakira Gin

SIP Awards Bronze, European Spirits Challenge Gold, Monde Selection Gold, IWSC Silver

“Your True Wealth Is Your People” (Muljibhai Madhvani MBE)

Housing

KSL provides all employees with housing (4,000+), fresh clean water, electricity and local road building.

Healthcare

KSL provides medical assistance through a 75-bed hospital, 2 clinics, outreach services and 2 ambulances. The Kakira Sugar Limited Hospital is a 4-star Ugandan Ministry of Health recognised facility and is ISO 18001 certified. It is run by 4 full-time doctors and serves a total population of over 100,000 people within the township and the surrounding communities.

KORD - Kakira Outgrowers Rural Development

The KORD fund is a not-for-profit joint venture between farmers and Kakira Sugar, with the objective of improving the quality of life of the farmer communities. For every tonne of outgrower sugarcane that is crushed by Kakira, 250 Uganda shillings is deposited by the farmer and 125 Uganda shillings by Kakira Sugar Limited. This money is then channelled to the development of key services in the outgrower areas.

Primary & Secondary Education

KSL has established and maintains 16 schools (7 nursery schools, 8 primary schools and 1 secondary school) to provide education to over 4,000 children of employees. The performance of the KSL primary schools is among the best in the region.

University Education

The Madhvani Foundation supports hundreds of Ugandan technology students every year through extensive university scholarship programmes.

Vocational Training

The Kakira Sugar Busoga Foundation is a UGX 400 million scholarship fund is aimed at specifically sponsoring students in vocational training to address the high levels of unemployment in the region. 30% of the scholarship is distributed to biological dependents of KSL employees, 30% to dependants of registered KSL out-grower farmers and 40% to students within the Busoga sub-region.