Commodities
Ethiopia Opens Door for Prized Coffee Exports to Foreigners
- Until now, foreign traders purchased coffee from local traders
- Reforms extended to other commodities such as oilseeds
Ethiopia produced 833,000 tons of coffee last season.
Photographer: Dimas Ardian/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Africa’s biggest coffee producer has revised rules to allow foreign companies to buy the commodity directly from farmers and processors, the latest in reforms to liberalize East Africa’s biggest economy.
Until now Ethiopia — which prides itself as the birthplace of coffee — required buyers such as Starbucks Corp., Volcafe Ltd., Louis Dreyfus Co., Olam International Ltd. and Sucafina SA to purchase shipments from local companies.