25 countries in Africa are known for their coffee production. 56 percent of the country’s rural community lives with coffee.
Crude oil ranks first among the products exported to the continent, followed by coffee production.
It was decided at the 37th African Union Summit to make coffee production one of the strategic commodities of the African Free Trade Association.
In the implementation of the second ten-year plan, a goal was set to achieve the African Agenda 2063. It is said that a committee has been set up to export coffee to neighboring African countries based on the approved decision on the African trade network. Addis Walta Television had a meeting with coffee exporters to see what Ethiopia, the leading producer and exporter of coffee in Africa, is doing to benefit.
The Chief Executive Officer of Karredanshe Trading, Israel Degef, said that the importance of Africa’s free trade network is that most of the African countries have a very low chance of selling their products to each other and the trade transfers between them are very low.
The owner and manager of Moye Coffee and Gagana Tola Farming Company, Soubshet Ahadu, has not usually been in Africa where we have been doing business until today. He said that we used to export our coffee to Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. They said that if Africans can trade with each other here, we will have a big market opportunity.
“There’s not a lot of experience in Africa in terms of what we call commodities, not just coffee. We are not reaching the neighboring countries itself. Looking at it, it’s a huge market opportunity. I believe that if we start with coffee, we will strengthen our other incomes as well,” said Ahadu Wubshet.
The general manager of the Ethiopian Coffee Exporters’ Association, Bishat Warku, explained to us that most of the Maghreb countries, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, buy ground, ground and finished coffee from Europe. Other countries, including South Africa and Egypt, are buying ground coffee, he said, although the gold coffee market is not the biggest in Africa, but if we can work using the existing market, it will bring benefits to Ethiopia.
Ethiopia accounts for 39 percent of the coffee exported from Africa. Coffee production is widely sold outside the continent, but there is little trade between African countries. But at present, coffee production is one of the strategic commodities of the continent, so it creates a big market perspective, according to the coffee exporters.
The exporters who say that we have been working together with Tunisia, South Africa and other African countries in coffee trade and other goods, point out that the business relationship and participation in other resources is growing and increasing from time to time. He said that it will be strengthened even more in the new strategic way.
Coffee buying countries like South Africa and Tunisia have started working directly with us and we are making a big change. They say that we are realizing a process that is growing and increasing every year.
The actors of the sector who point out that the benefits that come with the trade relationship beyond the coffee trade are widely expected, and they emphasize that the infrastructure problems, political crisis, shipping transit and other problems observed in the continent should be given attention so that they do not become an obstacle.
