Coffee being dried on raised beds at Mugamba Farm in Kabarole district. Africa, the second largest continent in the world, is the birth place of both Arabica and Robusta coffee
The first African Coffee Summit is scheduled to be held on 25-27 May 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya.
It should be noted that at its 61st Annual General Assembly held in Kigali, Rwanda on 18th November 2021, the Inter-African Coffee Organization (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.
Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta will inaugurate the Summit at Safari Park Hotel. Heads of State representing the 25 African Coffee Producing countries, the Chairperson of the African Union (AU), key officials from regional Government Ministries and Institutions, such as: Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Trade, Industry & Cooperatives, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry & Fisheries, Ministry of Finance; select Members of the Parliamentary Committees on Agriculture, Trade & Industry; and Foreign Affairs. Coffee Authorities, Ambassadors and the press are expected to attend this historic Summit.
The main objectives of the Summit include: marshaling 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.
The Summit also wants to align with the seven Aspirations and Goals set out by the AFRICAN UNION 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”.
This call is further amplified by the African Continental Free Trade Area, (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.
Coffee, the second most traded commodity in the world after oil and the most favourite beverage, translates into approximately 400 billion cups annual consumption at a value of $466 billion in 2021.
Africa, the second largest continent in the world, is the birth place 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.
Expected Outcomes
Sign a joint communique “NAIROBI DECLARATION” by the Heads of State of the 25 African Coffee Producers requesting the inclusion of coffee as an anchor commodity in the Africa Union (AU) in harmony with the Africa Agenda 2063; and amplify the African Continental Free Trade Area, (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.
