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Oliver Kazunga
Senior Business Reporter
A TOTAL of 25 coffee producing countries in Africa will this week meet in Nairobi, Kenya for the inaugural coffee summit to deliberate on boosting domestic output and value-addition to the commodity.

The summit was mooted at the 61st Annual General Assembly of the African Union in Kigali, Rwanda in November last year where the Inter-African Coffee Organisation (IACO) resolved to hold its first coffee conference.

Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world after oil and the most favourite beverage, translating into an estimated 400 billion cups in annual consumption at a value of $466 billion in 2021.

Zimbabwe is among the 25 coffee producers in Africa.

In a statement, IACO said the summit was aimed at re-evaluating the overall performance by the 25 coffee-producing countries on the continent.

“At its 61st Annual General Assembly held in Kigali, Rwanda on 18th of November 2021, IACO resolved to hold the first African Coffee Summit of the 25 African coffee-producing countries, to re-evaluate the overall performance of the coffee sector in Africa.

“The summit will be held on May 25-27 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya,” it said.

Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta will inaugurate the summit at Safari Park Hotel.

Heads of State representing the 25 African coffee producing countries, the AU chairperson…, key officials from regional government ministries and institutions are expected to attend the upcoming historic event.

Delegates at the conference will also include officials from the ministries of foreign affairs, and international trade, industry and commerce, lands and agricultures, coffee authorities and ambassadors.

“The main objectives of the summit include marshalling consensus on a declaration to include coffee as an anchor commodity in the African Union in harmony with the AU Africa Agenda 2063; value addition and boosting domestic consumption thereby opening opportunities for the youth and empowering women; and expanding coffee trading regionally under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework,” it said.

To advocate this, IACO said it is important to align with the seven aspirations and goals set out by the AU for its Agenda 2063.

Notably the “desire for shared prosperity and well-being, for unity and integration, for a continent of free citizens and expanded horizons, where the full potential of women and youth are realised, and with freedom from fear, disease and want”.

It said this call is further amplified by the AfCFTA which provides for free movement of persons, capital, goods and service to deepen economic integration and promotion of agricultural development, food security, industrialization and structural economic transformation. Africa, the second largest continent in the world, is the birthplace of both arabica and robusta coffee, a crop that serves as a source of livelihood to at least 60 million people across many African countries.

“Additionally, coffee’s medicinal attributes together with its alternative uses have not been fully explored.

“These attributes give coffee a high multiplier effect over other commodities and a credible anchor of inclusive economic growth,” said IACO