Apollo Segawa: naughty mind would misunderstand the business objective of a company called Exotic Banana. But there is nothing untoward in the name. It is the food processing brainchild of Apollo Segawa, a food scientist who is turning over millions using the knowledge he gained from postgraduate studies in this discipline at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). In Uganda where he hails from, a banana based meal called matoke is very popular and it is fitting therefore that the fruit forms the main ingredient for his range of juices called Simple Natures. “I studied the process of making food last longer at Makerere University,” Segawa explains, “It was a natural choice for me because I noticed that the capacity for this in Africa is very low. When a product is in season it is very cheap. In other periods, it is generally unavailable and hence if you can learn how to make food last longer you could sell it during these times at a good price.” Segawa started teaching at UJ part time in 2005 and soon after started growing bananas in Mpumalanga and doing food processing at a small factory in this South African province. The operation grew and in 2008, he left the university to focus on the business on a full time basis.
The Matoke Millionaire
Segawa is a short gentleman who seems to be constantly smiling. He even speaks with a tickle of laughter lacing every second word. But times have not always been joyful for the 35 year old entrepreneur. “With anything new, it is always challenging because the market does not know your brand,” he explains with a slightly more serious tone, “The financial constraints in this particular business are also a concern because as you can see it is quite capital intensive.” As we walk around his singlebuilding factory in Midrand,I take sight of the high start up cost. Large silver metallic cylinders are surrounded by a few of his twelve employees. This was all made possible by the assistance of his brother and UJ who are both shareholders in the business. Another big boost was winning a capital injection in a competition for entrepreneurs conducted by an organization known as Enablis. The achievement got his name into several publications including Food Review, The Star Newspaper and The Daily Sun. He has also been featured in Ugandan dailies New Vision and The Monitor. I ask him how it is being a celebrity. As we sit down once again, a
hearty laugh precedes his response. “I am not really a celebrity. But the publicity is good for business. I do a bit of consulting in the food industry as well so it helps in this respect. It has also helped in growing the business. Only when I presented one of the articles to Shoprite did they open their doors to our products.” We get interrupted by his wife Patience who is sitting a few metres away from him and needs help with a computer application before leaving the room momentarily. I ask him what he thinks of having his wife as a colleague. “We work well together. She assists with the administration side of the business. I think I am under employing her as she has a Masters in Management so she will probably move at some point,” he concedes. His plan for 2011 is to begin exporting to Swaziland and Botswana. And within the next five years, he hopes to enter into partnerships that will increase the hectares they are using for banana juice so as to double the company’s production. There are also plans to increase the variety of the product line which currently stands at eight juice flavours. As I enjoy the guava flavour, Segawa explains that unlike