Asaph CV July 2016

Curriculum Vita
ASAPH BESIGYE
P.O. Box 23392, Kampala, Uganda
Telephone: +256(0)772-460704 / +256(0)701-144304
Email: asaphbesigye@gmail.com / asaphbesigye@yahoo.com
General:
 Date of Birth: June 12, 1962
 Civil Status: Married with children
Expertise:
 Financial Value Chain Analysis and Financial Products Development
 Financial Management and Financial Accounting
 Agribusiness Planning and Management, and Rural Development Solutions
 Project evaluation
Academic Qualifications:
 MSc (Accounting & Finance)- University of Stirling (UK)
 Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) - Makerere University (Uganda)
Summary of Professional Experience:
 20 years of experience in coordinating business development and rural finance for
agribusinesses aimed at increasing incomes of small, medium and large farmers and
agricultural enterprises as well as improving the financing strategies for the financial
institutions that lend to them within and outside Uganda.
 8 years of experience in financial planning and management of a commercial enterprise with
diverse activities.
 8 year of experience in lecturing in finance and accounting at Makerere University (Uganda)
Detailed Professional Experience:
Senior Associate Consultant for Agricultural and Rural Finance, Kronos Consultants: (2012
– 2013) and Independent Senior Consultant July 2011 to present.
Completed Multiple Consultancies:
2016
 Agribusiness Initiative Trust (July 2016): Assessing capacity needs to finance smallholder
farmers in Uganda by Uganda Development Bank and recommending measures to address
challenges and gaps identified. The recommendations are to guide aBi focus Technical

Assistance to bank strengthen the Bank’s smallholder agricultural loan portfolio.
 Access to Finance Rwanda (April – May 2016): Completed evaluation of a digital SMS
Bookkeeping project that focused on enabling coffee wet mill cooperatives to access working
capital loans from lenders on the basis of analysed SMS data of coffee purchases and sales,
operational expenses and liquidity. Under the Project, six lenders are providing digital data-
anchored working capital to 84 wet mill cooperatives.
 Overseas Private Investment Corporation (USA) – January – February 2016: Due
diligence of a multinational grain management and trading company expanding its operation
into Uganda. The due diligence is for informing a lending decision on a USD 50 Million loan
application by the company.
2015
 GIZ/AGRUFIN Project; August – December 2015: Completed a needs and risk assessment
study for Uganda’s smallholder coffee farmers and refined the loan product (anchored on
smartphone generated digital data) for coffee farmers for PostBank Uganda (PBU).
 GIZ/AGRUFIN Project; August – December 2015: Conducted training of four FI partners
(Finance Trust Bank, Housing Finance Bank, Tropical Bank and PBU) in value chain analysis
and financing methodologies.
 GIZ/AGRUFIN Project; October – December 2015: Completed value chain analysis study
for Maize in Eastern Uganda for financial products recommendations for Finance Trust Bank.
 GIZ/AGRUFIN Project; July – September 2015: Completed value chain analysis study for
sesame in northern Uganda for financial products recommendations for PBU.
 Agribusiness Initiative Trust (aBi Trust); October 2015: Completed a review and rapid
evaluation of a sugar cane financing scheme by one of its FI partners to document lessons
learned from the poor performance of the financing scheme.
 SNV Uganda and Agri Profocus Uganda; July – September 2015: Prepared two articles for
the Agricultural Finance Year Book 2015.
 Agribusiness Initiative Trust (aBi Trust); April 2015: Completed a synthesis of the
evaluation reports for the Trust’s 13 financial institution partners with focus on performance
of the agricultural portfolio of the financial institutions and the impact on the credit
beneficiaries.
 GIZ/AGRUFIN Project; February – March 2015: Completed a review and evaluation of
commodity value chains in Northern Uganda for triage and recommendation of key value
chains for potential support by the project to develop financial products.
 Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR); November 2014 to September 2015: Carrying out
consultancy engagement to establish and strengthen the Agriculture Finance Units of two
Rwandan partner financial institutions (UOB and RIM) focusing on skills enhancement in
agricultural lending methodologies and developing new agricultural loan products.
 Enclude B.V. (Netherlands); January 2015: Training of Ugafode (Ugandan MDI) in
financial value chain agricultural lending methodologies.
2014
 Centenary Bank; August – September, 2014: Under the World Bank Agrifin project,
completed value chain analysis of three livestock enterprises (dairy, beef cattle and poultry) to
identify financing opportunities and recommend potential financial products and financing
mechanisms to be developed to tap the identified opportunities.
 GIZ/FSD Programme; June – July 2014: Completed due diligence and diagnostic of ten
financial institutions in Uganda for selection of FIs to partner with GIZ Agricultural and Rural
Finance (AGRUFIN) Programme.

 Centenary Bank; May – July, 2014: Under the World Bank’s Agrifin project, completed
value chain analysis of three agricultural commodities (coffee, maize and rice) to identify
financing opportunities and recommend financial products and financing strategies for these
value chains.
 Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR); June 2014: Completed due diligence of four Rwandan
financial institutions and developed a proposal for financial support to establish and strengthen
agricultural credit units by the selected financial institutions.
 Post Bank Uganda; March 2014: Carrying out market survey and developing financial
product(s) for Water and Sanitation (WASH).
2013
 Swisscontact/GIZ; November 2013 to May2014: Providing technical backstopping support
to the Improving Access to Rural and Agricultural Finance Project in Northern Uganda.
 Swisscontact; December 2013: Training two SACCOs partnering with Swisscontact in
Agricultural lending methodologies, agricultural financial product development and
microleasing lending mechanisms.
 Post Bank Uganda; October 2013: Carried out evaluation of the pilot of agricultural loan
products in readiness for the bank to roll them out.
 Association of Microfinance Institutions in Uganda (AMFIU); November 2013: Training
of member SACCOs in Northern Uganda on agricultural value chain lending methodologies.
 Uganda Institute of Banking and Financial Services and Swisscontact; August 2013:
Training staff of Pride Microfinance (MDI) in Value chain and agribusiness lending
methodologies.
 Tropical Bank Limited; June 2013: Revising existing financial products and developing
new agribusiness products for the bank, establishing agribusiness unit in the bank’s credit
department, and training the bank’s management, board and staff in agribusiness lending
methodologies.
 GIZ/East African Community (EAC); June 2013: Developing a finance facility for
women-owned enterprises in the EAC countries. The facility (to be implemented in
collaboration with EADB) will facilitate improved access to credit by women-owned
enterprises.
 GIZ/Swisscontact (for GIZ FSD Project); April to May 2013: Developed a Financial
Value Chain Analysis Toolkit. The toolkit was disseminated by Swisscontact to financial
institutions that are interested in developing agribusiness financial products.
 European Investment Bank – Integration/Kronos Consultants; May to July 2013:
Conducting counselling sessions for banks’ client interested in accessing EIB line of credit
funding to complete bankable business plans and to address key operational challenges of
their projects.
 European Investment Bank – Integration/Kronos Consultants; January to March 2013:
Conducting staff training for bank staff of DFCU bank and Housing Finance bank on
methodologies of long term risk analysis and environmental issues in long term projects under
the PEFF II TA Project.
2012
 Centenary Bank; December to February: Completed value chain analysis for sunflower in
northern Uganda to enable the bank develop appropriate financial products for the value chain.
 Post Bank Uganda; August to November: Prepared the bank’s Agricultural Financing
Strategy; completed feasibility analyses for bank branching in four locations in Northern and
Eastern Uganda.

 Kigarama Peoples SACCO: Preparing SACCO agricultural lending policies and procedures
manual; and Training SACCO board and staff in Agricultural Lending methodologies.
 Agribusiness Initiative Trust (aBi Trust); May – June February: Completed due diligence
of two rural SACCOs for potential aBi Trust partnership/support.
 European Investment Bank; From March 2012: Serving as Advisor to SMEs on the EIB
TA project for the PEFF II financing facility for six Ugandan banks.
 Agribusiness Initiative Trust (aBi Trust); February to April: Prepared concept document
for initiatives to support the development of the dairy value chain in Uganda. Dairy was
incorporated as an additional value chain for support by aBi Trust under delegated cooperation
with the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Uganda.
2011
 Agribusiness Initiative Trust (aBi Trust); December 2011 to February 2012: Writing
articles on developments in coffee, maize and oilseeds value chains in Uganda for the
Agricultural Finance Year Book 2011.
 Agribusiness Initiative Trust (aBi Trust); October 2011: Prepared technical brief for the
Trust on Access to Finance for Women in Agribusiness.
 Kyamuhunga SACCO: Revised SACCO’s agricultural loan product; developed the
SACCO’s savings mobilization strategy; and developed curriculum and trained SACCO staff
and board members in agribusiness and value chain financing. The activity was supported by
aBi Trust.
 Agribusiness Initiative Trust (aBi Trust), Danida/SIDA/EU/Belgium funded project;
March to October: Implementing the activities of the Financial Services Development sub-
component of the trust that aims at increasing access to financial services for the agribusiness
sector.
2010
 GTZ-Sida Financial SectorDevelopment Programme (Currently GIZ): Wrote two articles
(Financing Opportunities Presented by Contract Farming; and Profitability of Farming
Mechanization) for the Agricultural Finance Year Book 2010.
 USAID’s Livelihoods & Enterprises in Agricultural Development (LEAD) Project:
Trained senior managers and credit officers of two financial institutions, Kenya Commercial
Bank and Ecobank (under LEAD Project funding) in agricultural financing strategies with
emphasis on value chain mapping and analysis for financial products development, and
financing through structured trade mechanisms.
Developed and disseminated enforcement strategies for maize forward contracts for WFP. The
strategies will be used by producer groups contracting with WFP to realize the contract
volumes of the required quality and in time from their smallholder members.
 Land O’Lakes Inc.: Prepared an agricultural finance training manual for training Land
O’Lakes field staff.
 The Royal Danish Embassy in Uganda: Member of team that prepared the aBi (Agribusiness
Initiative) Trust, including its business plan and operational manual.
Coordinated a market survey for identifying potential locations with surplus maize production
and inadequate bulking facilities and completed a business case for triage by World Food
Programme to support rural warehousing infrastructure.
 VECO East Africa: Carried out a study on the Agriculture Finance Situation in Uganda and
presented the findings at a workshop of stakeholders drawn from the East African region.

Prepared two financial products for Savings for Coffee Inputs and Micro Leasing for Dairy to
be marketed to Uganda’s financial institutions and Producer Associations by LEAD Project.
 Financial Sector Deepening (FSD), Kenya: Completed design of four financial products for
two Kenyan financial institutions for the dairy sector. The products were piloted and are being
rolled out.
 Africa Union: Participated in the recruitment of the executive staff of the Intra Africa Bureau
of Animal Resources (IBAR), Nairobi.
 GTZ-Sida Financial Sector Development Programme: Wrote article for the Agricultural
Finance Year Book 2009.
2009
 USAID’s Kenya Access to Rural Finance (KARF) Project: Completed Value Chain
Analysis for Omena fish for potential Financial Products Development by the Kenya’s
financial institutions.
 Opportunity Uganda: Completed Value Chain Analyses for dairy, maize and coffee;
developed a Micro Lease product and trained agricultural loans officers in new product
development and delivery mechanisms.
 FSD Kenya: Completed a documents review and synthesis for triage of high potential for
value chain analyses, and carried out deliberation with Kenyan financial institutions to gauge
interest in triaged commodities prior to engaging in the actual value chain analysis.
 Denmark’s Prime Minister’s Africa Commission: Completed country studies (Uganda and
Kenya) for the design of the Africa Guarantee Fund.
 Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the MasterCard Foundation: Completed due
diligence and evaluations of Opportunity Bank’s affiliates in Ghana and Uganda for investment
potential for the two foundations.
 USAID’s Kenya Access to Rural Finance (KARF) Project: Completed Value Chain
Analysis for Financial Products Development for the Kenya’s Banks for the Kenya’s dairy
sector.
 USAID’s Kenya Access to Rural Finance (KARF) and USAID’s Livelihoods &
Enterprises in Agricultural Development (LEAD) Project: Developed a Structured Trade
Finance Facility for cross border maize and millet trade between Uganda and Kenya for
adoption by regional banks.
 GTZ-Sida Financial Sector Development Programme: Provided technical assistance to the
FSD project on term finance and preparation of the Agricultural Finance Year Books (2007
and 2008).
 Faulu Uganda (currently Opportunity Uganda): Trained agricultural loans officers in value
chain analysis and financial products development.
Completed Value Chain analyses for financial products development for Uganda’s maize, rice
and coffee sub-sectors.
Researched and prepared Bank Branching Feasibility Studies in two of Uganda’s remote rural
districts (in Northern Uganda).
 IFAD: Team member (Financial Analyst) for carrying out interim evaluation of the Vegetable
Oil Development Programme (VODP) in Uganda for potential extension of the project.
2008
 USAID’s LEAD Project: Team Leader for conducting Light Due Diligence on Uganda’s

SACCOs for potential partnership with the project.
 The Royal Danish Embassy in Uganda: Completed due diligence for merger of two Ugandan
SACCOs for the embassy’s Business to Business Programme.
 GTZ-Sida Financial Sector Development Programme: Developed an Agricultural Term
Finance – Animal Traction - Product for Uganda Microfinance Ltd (currently Equity Bank
Uganda).
 USAID KARF Project: Member of team that prepared and delivered a seminar for Kenya’s
financial institutions on Agricultural Value Chain Financing.
 Danida’s Agricultural Sector Programme Support: Completed an analysis of, and
recommendations for, sustainability of District Farmers Organizations supported by the
project.
 Ministry of Agriculture in Rwanda: Completed Value Chain Analyses for 8 commodities
(coffee, tea, pyrethrum, potatoes, dairy, maize, rice and wheat) and conducted a workshop for
dissemination of potential financial products and financing strategies from the opportunities
revealed by the financial analyses.
 Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security of Lesotho: Member of the team (Financial
Analyst) that carried out the Mid-Term Review of the IFAD-funded Sustainable Agriculture
and Natural Resource Management Programme (SANReMP).
 GTZ-Sida Financial Sector Development Programme: Wrote article on “Agricultural Loan
Product Design” for the Agricultural Finance Year Book 2008.
2007
 SNV (Uganda): Completed value chain and analysis of the oil seed sector in Northern and
eastern Uganda and recommended financing strategies for the sector. Commodities analyzed
included sunflower, sesame and shea nuts.
Rural Finance Specialist for Agriculture, Chemonics International/Rural SPEED Project,
Kampala Uganda, Jan 2005 to October 2007
 Member of a multi-disciplinary team in charge of the agricultural finance component and thus
responsible for improving and deepening rural access to financial services for agricultural
value chains.
 Assist financial institutions to gain better understanding of agricultural finance risks and to
develop strategies for agricultural lending based on effective analysis and mitigation of risks.
 Conducted value chain data collection and analysis for maize, cotton, sunflower, tea and
upland rice; with my supervisor, developed financing mechanisms for these commodities
including a warehouse receipt system, a tea input loan for tea growers and cotton price hedging.
 Assisted financial institutions to develop agricultural finance products; and trained financial
institutions in agricultural products development and lending mechanisms.
 Member of the policy and regulatory-focused agricultural finance sub-committee of the
government’s Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture.
 Co-authored an agricultural loan development manual and trained over 300 credit officers and
managers for twenty financial institutions in agricultural lending.
Rural Finance Specialist, Chemonics International/SPEED Project, Kampala Uganda, Mar
2004 to Dec 2004
 Member of a multidisciplinary team responsible for increasing rural financial outreach through
identifying market opportunities, presenting these to prospective lenders and working with

them to develop and market appropriate financial products, and to develop outreach strategies.
Agribusiness Advisory Specialist, Chemonics International/USAID IDEA Project, Jan 1996
to Feb 2004
 Member of a multi-disciplinary team, responsible for improving individual farm and firm-level
business planning and management, and for improving access to financing for farmers, traders,
exporters, commodity associations inputs dealers.
 Facilitated access to over $10 million in financing from local financial institutions for more
than 1,700 project clients covering a wide scope of production credit for farmers, crop
purchasing finance, export finance, freight finance and input loans.
 Developed and managed an agricultural input network and credit guarantee program that
assists agricultural input distributors to develop rural stockist networks and facilitates access
to input credit by distributors and rural stockists.
 Developed a commercial farm field records manual for commercial farmer training; co-
authored a training manual; participated in designing and managing a program (Consultant
Access Fund – CAF) to cost-share with client firms the engagement of local consultants aimed
at improving firms’ growth and operational performance; organized and conducted numerous
agribusiness management training programs for commercial farmers and input stockists.
 As a member of various teams, participated in designing and developing innovative programs
that increase access to agricultural loans and market linkages, among these are: Bank of
Uganda-USAID Export Credit Guarantee Scheme, Horticultural Commodity Exports and
Freight Consolidation, Export Refinance Scheme, Rural Agricultural Marketing Systems.
Chief Accountant, Foods and Beverages Ltd, Uganda, Jul 1993 to Dec 1995
 Responsible for execution of duties relating to financial planning and management of the
company.
Senior Accountant, Foods and Beverages Ltd, Uganda, Oct 1991 to Jun 1993
 Responsible for overall supervision of the finance division of the finance department.
Management Accountant, Foods and Beverages Ltd, Uganda, Sept 1987 to Oct 1990
 Responsible for preparing management accounting reports; costing of products and advising
on the pricing strategies; preparing annual budgets and budget performance reports.
Special Projects and financial products developed and managed:
Special Loan Window (SLW): A special commercial farmer loan guarantee product developed
for Centenary Bank for agricultural credit to farmers receiving IDEA project technical assistance.
The bank is still maintaining the product post-IDEA project.
Commercial Farmer Loan Guarantee Scheme (CFLGS): Agricultural portfolio special credit
scheme developed for Standard Chartered Bank for emerging bigger commercial farmers

supported by IDEA Project. As is in the case of Centenary Bank, Standard Chartered Bank is still
maintaining the loan product post-IDEA project.
Rapid Sales Loan Product: A short-term microfinance credit facility for 1 to 5 days targeting
small scale dealers with rapid and profitable daily transactions. The product is targeting
agricultural produce bicycle traders and rural market vendors, and has high replication potential
both across financial institutions and business activities.
Training Skills:
 Consultancy clients: As detailed above.
 USAID/Rural SPEED Project: Involved in training of managers, credit administrators and
loan officers of banks and SACCOs in agricultural lending skills and agricultural loan product
development.
 IDEA Project: Facilitated as a resource person at various IDEA Project training workshops
(commercial farmer training, input dealers and stockists training, outgrowers workshops, and
other client-tailored training programmes).
 DANIDA (ASPS): As a lead consultant, trained the staff and members of governing boards of
DANIDA ASPS (DATICs) on how to undertake the diagnostic of their agricultural commercial
enterprises, business plans development and restructuring the enterprises for turn-around to
financial self-sustainability.
 Uganda Martyrs University: Facilitator for Rural and Agricultural Finance at the Uganda
Martyrs University’s Microfinance Residential Training in 2004 and 2007.
 Lecturer, Makerere University, Kampala from1991 to 1996: Designing and teaching
graduate courses in accounting, business and corporate financial management, quantitative
techniques and operations management.
Other Short Term Consultancy Engagements Completed:
 DANIDA Uganda Agricultural Sector Program Support (ASPS): Developed business
plans for the agricultural commercial enterprises.
 IFAD Area-based Agricultural Modernisation Programme(AAMP): Mid-term evaluation
of the project. Responsible for financial analysis, agricultural commercialisation and agri
inputs stockists program development.
 DANIDA ASPS: Completed a study on technical feasibility and cultural acceptability of draft
animal power for increasing smallholder productivity.
 IFAD: Completed a study on Commodity Market Linkages Facilitation in Uganda.
 DANIDA (ASPS): Developed business plans for the agricultural commercial enterprises of
the DATICs
 DANIDA (ASPS): Completed diagnostic analysis of agricultural commercial enterprises of
the District Agricultural Training and Information Centres (DATICs).
Key Articles, Publications and Manuals
 Asaph Besigye, et. al. Agricultural Finance Year Book, Bank of Uganda and EPRC 2015.

 Asaph Besigye. A Comprehensive Guide to Financial Value Chain Analysis, a Toolkit”
(Prepared for GIZ/Sweisscontact), 2013
 Asaph Besigye, et. al. Agricultural Finance Year Book, Bank of Uganda and PMA 2012.
 Asaph Besigye, et. al. Agricultural Finance for Field Trainers, a Primer (prepared for Land
O’Lakes Inc) 2010.
 Asaph Besigye withPelrine Richard John. A Comprehensive Guide to Agricultural Product
Design for Uganda’s Financial Intermediaries, April, 2007.
 Asaph Besigye. Commodity Value Chain Maps and Analyses for Tea and Upland Rice,
USAID, Kampala, August, 2007.
 Asaph Besigye with Pelrine Richard John. Commodity Value Chain Maps and Analyses
for Maize, Sunflower and Cotton. USAID, Kampala, June, 2005
 Asaph Besigye. Commercial Farm Field Records, USAID, Kampala, April 1999.
 Asaph Besigye, et. al. Agri-inputs distributors and stockists training manual, USAID,
Kampala, May 1999.
Other Skills
Extensive knowledge of computer applications (Microsoft word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).

Asaph CV July 2016

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Asaph CV July 2016

Similar to Asaph CV July 2016 (20)

Asaph CV July 2016