BIG BEND – Ubombo Sugar Limited’s latest recognition further underlines the ability of Eswatini-based businesses and their people to compete successfully and excel within major multinational corporations.
The Big Bend-based sugar and electricity producer has been crowned ABF Sugar Business of the Year for the 2025/26 financial year for the second consecutive year, reaffirming its position among the top-performing businesses within the international sugar group.
The award was presented by ABF Sugar Chief Executive Officer Paul Kenward during the division’s annual Leadership Conference, held from October 13 to 15, 2026, which brought together approximately 120 senior managers and executives representing the group’s operations across Africa and Europe.
The latest achievement follows Ubombo Sugar’s victory at the 2025 conference, held in the Drakensberg, South Africa, making it a back-to-back winner of ABF Sugar’s highest overall business recognition.
The accomplishment highlights the performance of an Eswatini-based enterprise competing against established businesses operating in different markets across two continents, demonstrating the capabilities of its workforce and the standards it has achieved within a major multinational group.
ABF Sugar is a division of Associated British Foods plc, with operations in Eswatini, South Africa, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia, alongside British Sugar in the United Kingdom and Azucarera in Spain.
The annual awards recognise outstanding performance across several disciplines, including financial and operational results, agricultural productivity, manufacturing efficiency, leadership effectiveness, people development, stakeholder management and advocacy, environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance, and strategic execution.
The Business of the Year Award is the division’s premier recognition, celebrating overall business achievement across these areas.
Recognition across business areas
BIG BEND – Ubombo Sugar’s overall victory was reinforced by its performance in several individual award categories, reflecting its achievements across different areas of the business.
The company was runner-up in the Engagement and Advocacy Excellence Award and the Safety Excellence Award. It also secured third place in the Factory Performance Award, Agricultural Performance Award, and People and Performance Award. These results demonstrate the breadth of the company’s performance across stakeholder engagement, workplace safety, manufacturing, agricultural production and people management.
The multiple category placements complemented its overall victory, highlighting performance across several disciplines rather than in a single area of operation.
Ubombo Sugar is one of Eswatini’s major agro-industrial businesses and employs approximately 3 500 people at peak employment. Its operations contribute to the country’s agricultural economy and manufacturing sector, while its electricity generation activities extend its role into the energy industry.
The planned factory expansion is expected to accommodate additional sugar cane production from smallholder growers participating in LUSIP II, linking the company’s investment programme with increased agricultural production. Meanwhile, the planned 40MW power generation plant will expand its electricity generation capacity, further broadening its industrial activities.
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