Kenyan Trade Mission to Ethiopia Ends with Deals
ADDIS ABEBA – Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC) grain trade mission to Ethiopia for Kenyan traders and processors, saw Ethiopian exporters of grains sign trade contract agreements amounting to 175, 000MT worth over USD 100,000 with Kenyan buyers.
Representatives of eleven grain trading and processing companies in Kenya attended the mission which took place in Ethiopia.
The trade mission, last week, included a matchmaking Business 2 Business session for the buyers and sellers in which they exchanged information, networked, and negotiated trade deals.
The mission provided an opportunity for Kenyan delegates to make a courtesy call to the Embassy of Kenya in Addis Ababa, a learning and experiential visit to Alpha Trading which is a grain processing and handling facility located in Ethiopia.
Essays Kebede, the General Manager at Ethio Agri-CEFT, one of the sponsors of the Trade Mission said the mission demonstrated the potential of the private sector investment to bring about trade competition through overcoming cross border trade barriers.
This could stimulate export-led economic growth which is crucial to regional integrity and prosperity, he said.
David Muriuki, a Kenyan processor participating in the trade mission, on his part said, “Coming to Ethiopia has been a quite a game-changer for us”.
“It has given us a major breakthrough to key Ethiopian grain sellers with large trade volumes and desirable quality,” David added.
Kenya’s annual demand for Soybean is about 70,000mt yet the supply from local production hardly gets to 15,000mt.
This is against a continuously increasing demand due to the growing animal feed and oil processing industries that utilize raw soybean or soybean by-products.
“We thank EAGC for organizing the trade mission to Ethiopia, we are very grateful to have sealed trade deals with Ethiopian suppliers of white sorghum and soya bean,” Billy Okongo, the Group Supply Chain Manager at Unga Feeds.
Grain traders and processors have developed new connections and explored business opportunities with leading grain traders from Ethiopia, according to EAGC.
Eastern Africa Grain Council is a regional organization with membership drawn from across the Eastern and Southern Africa.
