Originally Uganda cotton was by Law marketed internally and exported to external markets only by a government parastatal, Lint Marketing Board (LMB).
Co-operation Societies would purchase Seed Cotton from the Farmers, process into raw cotton lint at its own ginneries.
Once ginned into cotton lint bales, LMB was a mandated monopoly by Law to market both in Uganda and Foreign Markets.
The external selling process was only by Free on Board (FOB) Mombasa basis and as such Lint Marketing Board had warehouses/offices in Mombasa for the purposes of receiving the commodity and process the shipment. Transport from ginneries to Mombasa Warehouse was always by Rail or Road.
This completely changed in early 1990’s with the onset of liberalization/privatization to create a Free Market Economy in Uganda. This also changed the mode of cotton sale from FOB Mombasa to Free on Truck (FOT) at individual ginneries in Uganda. The ginneries are located in different regions of the country.
Moses Raamu Nareeba, the Founder of Livercot Impex Ltd, then employed by LMB was at the time of Liberalization under posting in the Mombasa Office.
With the monopoly aspect removed Lint Marketing Board was unable to compete with Private Firms and wound up in 1994. Livercot initially incorporated in Kenya (1994) but this changed to Uganda in 1997.
Moses Nareeba then seized the opportunity to incorporate Livercot to offer the Export service to the External Merchants who buy the cotton for sale to final overseas milling companies.
Livercot stands for Liverpool Cotton, Liverpool in UK having been a world’s prominent first trading and still is a Centre City for International Cotton business.
Livercot has since diversified its business to a full scope Logistics Company and have its Headquarters in Uganda, with a subsidiary company in Kenya and Tanzania. In Uganda it has developed a fully fledged Logistics Centre in the Kampala Industrial and Business Park, Namanve on the outskirts of exit from Kampala to Mombasa, alongside a Railway line and the main highway.