After Seven Years in Growth, Côte d’Ivoire has launched West Africa’s First Agricultural Commodities Trade – The Bourse des Métières Agricoles Or BMPA.
Formally opened on Wednesday 28 Could within the Ivorian financial capital Abidjan, the trade started formal buying and selling on Friday, with the intention of bringing transparency, construction, and improved revenue to the area’s agricultural producers.
The trade’s symbolic launch was swift and promising: in simply ten minutes, 89 tonnes of products have been traded, valued at almost 31 million CFA francs – just below €50,000.
For now, the platform lists three key merchandise – uncooked cashew nuts, cola nuts, and maize – chosen for his or her strategic significance to the nationwide economic system.
To mark the launch this week, the West African Financial and Financial Union posted on X that the trade “marks an historic turning level for the Ivorian agricultural sector.”
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Settle for Handle my decisions Clear, regulated market
The BMPA replaces casual buying and selling practices with a regulated platform that displays real-time provide and demand dynamics.
Côte d’Ivoire is the world’s high producer of each uncooked cashews and cola nuts, with over 1 million tonnes of cashews and 250,000 tonnes of cola nuts produced yearly.
Maize additionally performs a central position in home meals safety.
Farmers ship their crops to authorized warehouses close to manufacturing areas and obtain warehouse receiptswhich function transaction paperwork on the trade.
Chatting with RFI, Raoul-Alex Zouzou, head of African Commodities Brokerage Home (AC), defined: “With this receipt, producers will come and meet brokers to promote their produce on-line.”
“From the trade platform, the dealer – who can also be involved with producers, processors and exporters – will provide these merchandise to consumers.”
This method goals to stabilise seasonal provide fluctuations, particularly in crops like cashews.
“Cashew nut manufacturing takes place over a brief interval,” Beh Soro instructed RFI, who heads the Ivorian inter-professional cashew nut organisation.
“Because of this, now we have an abundance in the course of the harvest interval. Capturing the inventory throughout a interval of abundance permits us to control the market and subsequently promote later, when demand is extra engaging for producers.”
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Infrastructure and operation
The BMPA is underpinned by licensed warehousing laws, overseen by the Warehouse Receipt Regulatory Authority (Arre), providing a complete storage capability of 500,000 tonnes.
Monetary transactions are managed by the Nationwide Funding Financial institutionappearing below an affiliated Agricultural Settlement Financial institution.
Buying and selling periods are held Monday to Friday – from 10 am to noon GMT – with value modifications per session restricted at 10 to fifteen %, as a safeguard in opposition to market volatility.
Authorised brokers embody West Africa Commodities MarketUncooked Materials Buying and selling, and the ACBH, with individuals starting from smallholder farmers and cooperatives to exporters and buyers.
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A regional milestone
The BMPA will not be solely a nationwide achievement for Cote d’Ivoire, however a regional first inside the West African Financial and Financial Union.
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It joins about 15 commodity exchanges throughout Africa – together with these in Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Kenya.
Globally, there are roughly 125 exchanges, with South Africa’s being the most importantbuying and selling over €72 billion yearly.
By offering clear pricing, higher entry to markets, and a proper platform for transactions, the BMPA hopes to cut back dependency on worldwide price-setting hubs like London or Kuala Lumpur and enhance farmer incomes.
Challenges stay, nonetheless, together with restricted infrastructure, finance entry, and consciousness amongst stakeholders.
But the BMPA is a daring step ahead – a part of a broader technique to modernise agriculture and empower native producers by market inclusion and financial resilience.
(This text was tailored from an authentic report on RFI’s French service)
