This is Julian Omalla, who produces one of the most popular drinks in Uganda, juices sold under the Cheers (health) brand, and she has a loyal clientele, estimated at around five out of the 44 million inhabitants of this country.

In December 2020, the UNCTAD included Omalla in the finalist group of the biennial Empretec prize, in which the organization awards women entrepreneurs every two years, and in the seventh edition the prize was at the hands of the Jordanian Afnan Kamel Ali, creator of a technology that has trained more than 5,000 young Arabs.

Empretec, functions as a training program, and recognizes the contributions of inspiring women entrepreneurs for their dedication and success in empowering other women through their inclusive business.

Omalla also obtained a scholarship to participate in a training program at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland.

This year, Omalla received $10 million from the Ugandan government to build a fresh juice factory, integrated into sustainable agriculture projects that will improve the livelihoods of thousands of farmers, mostly women.

Four million dollars is a grant to build the factory, and of the remaining six million is destined to the acquisition of equipment, Omalla will have to repay half within 10 years.

Affectionately known by her followers and the local press as “Mama Cheers,” the 56-year-old founder and director of Delight Uganda Limited is already one of the most prominent entrepreneurs in this East African nation.

When she founded her company in 1996, she didn’t know much about running a business, “but Empretec helped me develop and execute my business growth plan. The training helped me realize that I was born a businesswoman,” she said.

Equipped with knowledge and tenacity, Omalla made the company grow from scratch to the point of covering 60 percent of the fruit flavored beverage market at its peak, with a processing line that produces 12,000 liters a day.

Raising funds was a difficult task and like most women in Uganda, she did not have the guarantees required by banks to finance her business, so she turned to her savings and other businesses, such as raising poultry, producing corn, a flour mill, and a bakery.

Until 2011, Cheers was produced from imported juice concentrates, in part due to the difficulty of sourcing high-quality, locally grown fresh fruits, but in that year Omalla made a new step.

She acquired 700 hectares of land to grow fruit trees, such as mangoes, guavas and citric fruits to produce fresh juice, including a seed nursery to propagate clean fruit planting materials.

She also launched the organization of a cooperative in the northern district of Nwoya, which already groups 5,000 fruit farmers, who cultivate for Delight Uganda.

Of those, 3,750 are women, and Omalla made sure that each had at least one acre (0.4 hectares) of fruit orchard interspersed with short-term seasonal crops to improve their income and sustainability. Each farmer can earn up to $1,850 per season from their section.

The community where her firm operates has additionally benefited from better fruit and oilseed seeds, better roads to access markets, and the Delight Farm Institute, established by Omalla for the dissemination of knowledge on agriculture and agribusiness.

The entrepreneur’s plans now include meeting the growing demand for dehydrated fruits, especially mangoes, turning her farm into a center for learning cultivation of excellence, and increasing the number of external growers associated with her agribusiness.

Uniting 80,000 direct farmers could mean benefits for 432,000 women in the next three years, according to estimates by Empretec. Omalla wants, while satisfying local demand, to embark on the path of exportation.

See the original text in Spanish Un “jugo inclusivo” beneficia a miles de familias en Uganda