Uhuru launches regional commodity exchange

Kenya: The integration process of the East African states moved a notch higher with the launch of the East Africa Exchange (EAX) in Kigali, Rwanda.

The new electronic trading platform will provide a regional commodity exchange that connects buyers and sellers throughout the region and one that creates broader access to markets and the global economy. Through the project, farmers and traders will connect on price transparency real time.

The five partner states include Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. Ethiopia and Tanzania are observers to the Northern Corridor Integration projects, whose 6th Summit in Kigali provided the platform to launch the EAX.

President Uhuru Kenyatta rang the bell to officially launch the EAX witnessed by Presidents Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) and Salva Kiir of South Sudan.

President Kenyatta said the project under the Northern Corridor Integration projects will assist both businessmen, investors and small-scale farmers who have for long been exploited by middle men.

Unleash prosperity

He said the new financial project will provide fair and decent prices for commodities from regional farmers, stabilise prices of grains and play an important part towards regional food security

The main goals of the new initiative, which bring to over 15 the ongoing projects under the Northern Corridor Integration projects include enabling small-scale farmers access credit, capture value and catalyse further growth and providing an integrated East African Market with small–scale economy to enable the sector be globally competitive. It would also enable the deepening of East Africa’s capital markets so that its entrepreneurs and enterprises can unleash the prosperity of their own making for the benefit of their societies.

To be a fully regional exchange, the EAX will be opened to all regional investors. It also embraces the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) spirit to encourage both private and public investments from the region.

The EAX aims at establishing operations for a comprehensive end-to-end agricultural trading solution that adds value by putting in place inventory and warehouse management systems to combat post-harvest losses, improve food security and provide reliable inputs required for agro-processors.