Who is Chris Kayoboke— the quiet billionaire who owns 41% of Crown Beverages, the Pepsi bottler in Uganda?

Crown Beverages Limited, the franchisee bottler for PepsiCo International has no doubt, matured both as a large player in the Ugandan non-alcoholic drinks category as well as in the broader corporate Uganda category.

If the numbers are anything to go by, the company has nearly if not completely claimed back much of the territory it, in the yesteryears, lost to Century Bottling Limited (recently rebranded into Coca-Cola Beverages Uganda Limited (CCBU)).

According to figures exclusively available to CEO East Africa Magazine, CBL which bottles, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Mirinda, Sting, Evervess Tonic and Nivana water, in 2021, turned over UGX513.6 billion, a 26% increase from UGX407 billion in 2020. Net profit also increased by 77% from UGX34.7 billion to UGX61.3 billion in 2021.

Both the 2021 turnover and net profit are new records in the company’s 29-year history.

Much of this growth has happened in the last 5 years. It took the company about 24 years to reach an annual turnover of UGX250 billion, a feat it achieved between 2016 and 2017, but it only took 5 years to double that and reach UGX513.6 billion at the end of 2021.

In these 5 epic years, the company’s turnover has been growing at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12% while net profit has been growing at a CAGR of 32%.

It is not clear whether Century Bottling’s decision to merge with Rwenzori Bottling Company Limited, makers of Rwenzori Water- a leader in the packaged mineral drinking water business, to create a UGX600 billion+ in annual turnover company, but either way, the new combined CCBU is in better shape to take on the aggressive CBL.

Crown Beverages Limited was founded and incorporated as Lake Victoria Bottling Company on 29th March 1950. Then, the Uganda government owned the majority shares while a few elite indigenous Ugandans owned the minority shares. In 1965, LVBC became the Pepsi Cola franchise in Uganda and started bottling global soft drinks including; Pepsi, Mirinda and Ginger Ale among others.

During President Idi Amin Dada’s regime, in the 1970s, LVBC was nationalized by the government. When the NRM Government of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni took power in 1986, LVBC became one of the first companies to be sold- on 28th February 1993. The company was sold to three indigenous Ugandans namely; Amos Nzeyi, Chris Kayoboke and Engineer Dan Kigozi.

The new shareholders injected more capital, installed a second bottling line and renamed the company Crown Bottlers Limited (CBL). However, Kigozi, would later unfortunately pass away, on Saturday 21st May 1994 due to a heart attack. His interests were inherited by the wife, Dr. Maggie Kigozi, who at the time was working as the Marketing Director at the company. December 1997, CBL went into joint ownership with International Pepsi Cola Bottling Investments, (IPCBI) of South Africa, who bought 51% of shares and renamed the company to Crown Beverages Limited. However the Ugandan shareholders bought back the company in March 2002.

At share buy-back, according to our sources, both Amos Nzeyi and Chris Kayoboke, owned equal shares- 40.885% while Dr. Maggie Kigozi owned 18.23%.

Going by the recent market share gains as well as growth in financial fortunes, a financial valuer we talked to, put CBL’s worth at a conservative UGX500 billion (USD131.3 million).

That would put both Amos Nzeyi and Chris Kayoboke’s worth in CBL at UGX204.4 billion or USD56.7 million each, while Dr. Maggie Kigozi’s stake is at UGX91.5 billion or USD24 million.

But who is Chris Kayoboke?

While Amos Nzeyi and Dr. Maggie Kigozi are very well-known, very little is known about Chris Kayoboke, so we tried to piece together titbits about the reclusive businessman.

From what we have gathered, Chris Kayoboke entered into the transport business in the early 70s. He had a company called Regional Transporters Ltd, registered in 1973. He would later run into exile during the days of Idi Amin.

While in Kenya, he teamed up with Amos Nzeyi, who too circa 1976 had run to Nairobi in exile and set up a transport company- Intercontinental Transporters Limited. Just like Kayoboke, Nzeyi, too was a transporter back in Uganda, before running into exile.

It is in Kenya, that Nzeyi and Kayoboke, also met up with one Eng. Daniel Sserwano Kigozi, who like Nzeyi, was a political exile, having run from his job at Uganda Breweries where he had been the Managing Director. In Nairobi, Kigozi had gotten a job with Kenya Breweries Limited.

Nzeyi would later in 1983 sell his equity in Intercontinental Transporters to Kayoboke and one Amos Agaba, and go to London to take care of a sick child. While in London, he went into the real estate business. 

Nzeyi returned to Uganda to set up business after the NRM government had taken over. By this time, Eng. Daniel Kigozi was the Minister of Trade & Industry after a brief stint as the Managing Director of Uganda Breweries Limited.

Chris Kayoboke, too had returned to resume his regional transporters business. He also had invested with other friends in Kampala Bottlers Limited, a company bottling a drink known as Schweppes. However, KBC later crumbled in the mid-90s.

In 1989 an opportunity arose to supply bottle tops to the beverages industry and Nzeyi once again invited Kayoboke to be part of the venture. Together, they started Crown Corks Uganda Limited in February 1989.

Kayoboke’s Regional Transporters became a major transporter for Crown Corks Limited as well.

In 1993, when the government of Uganda, under its Public Enterprises Reform and Divestiture (PERD) programme, started selling its assets, Lake Victoria Bottling Company (LVBC), the franchisee bottler for PepsiCo International was the first to go.

Again, Nzeyi invited Kayoboke, who was already having problems with his partners in Kampala Bottling Company to be part of the deal. Although the duo had the entrepreneur hunger and the means to organise the financial resources to buy the physical assets of LVBC, they needed to demonstrate the relevant technical experience, to be able to win the trust of PepsiCo to continue with their franchisee.

It is here that they invited Eng. Dan Kigozi, who by now was no longer in government- to tap into his experience in running bottling businesses.

Kayoboke and Nzeyi would take up 40.885% shares each and Eng. Dan Kigozi 18.23%.

In a later interview, Nzeyi would testify that he picked Mr. Kigozi because of his rich experience in the bottling industry.

“Without him, I am sure we would not have won the franchise. He gave us a rich CV. After his death, his family took over and we work with them very well. But I am sure he is happy wherever he is because we protected his interests,” Nzeyi told New Vision in a 2013 interview.     

While Amos Nzeyi has actively worked as the Executive Chairman of Crown Beverages Limited, Chris Kayoboke has remained a quiet shareholder- but very instrumental in hand-holding the business in its early days, including transporting on credit and lending it some cold hard cash.

Chris Kayoboke’s family

Very little is known about Kayoboke’s family, as they haven’t been actively involved in running his CBL empire, but what we know is that two of his children have charted their own professional lives.

Julius Kayoboke, is the Regional CEO of Group Vivendi Africa (GVA), a subsidiary of the Vivendi Group. GVA is a telecom operator specialising in the delivery of Ultra-high-speed Internet in Africa. It builds, operates and markets its own fibre optic networks to the home (FTTH – Fibre to the Home) in major African cities.

Before Vivendi, Julius worked in key roles in other notable companies. He was Group Director, Customer Experience and Product Management at Equity Group; Marketing Director for Heineken Rwanda and the Regional Brands Manager for Africa and the Middle East for Heineken International, based in the Netherlands.

Julius is an alumnus of the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School where he got an MBA as well as the University of Birmingham, where he graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Chemical Engineering.

His brother, Paul Kayoboke, is currently the Managing Partner of Africa Nascent Capital Partners, a Private Equity firm he founded in 2011. Before that, he was the Head of Human Capital & Institutional Development at the Rwanda Development Board. He also worked as Rwanda’s Acting High Commissioner to Singapore and Commercial Attache to China. Before that, he was the Managing Director of SMS Media Rwanda, a tech startup.

Paul holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Reading in the UK and an MBA (Finance) from the University of Chicago- Booth School of Business.