19th African Fine Coffees Conference and exhibition closes in Kigali

By Elias Hakizimana.

Rwanda has been hosting the African Fine Coffees Conference and Exhibition, the 19th at the regional level and it takes place the third time in the country.

The three-day conference that was held from February 15th to 17th, 2023 was coincided with the Rwandan Coffee fraternity week ‘Coffee Week’ after the World’s and continent’s largest platforms for coffee enthusiasts converged in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city.

Following the World Coffee Producers Forum, Dr. Ildephonse Musafiri, Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), officiated the opening ceremony of the 19th African Fine Coffees Conference and Exhibition (AFCC&E), Africa’s largest coffee conference, which Rwanda is hosting for the third time.

The event, which began on Thursday, February 15th, 2023, is themed “Shared value for sustainability in the African coffee industry.”

The annual conference, hosted in rotation among its 12 member countries, is Africa’s largest coffee trade platform that brings over 1,000 regional and international coffee roasters, traders, producers, professionals and connoisseurs under one roof.

During the conference, the Rwanda Chapter, which last hosted the event in 2017, and the AFCA Board of directors has officially launched a series of activities attached to this important event.

Delegates and exhibitors came from all over the world to discuss actions that will raise the quality and competitiveness of coffee from member countries, helping grow existing coffee markets and securing new opportunities.

“This conference offers us timely opportunity to pause and reflect on the economic, environmental and social challenges we have faced and apply the lessons learned as we chart the way in the midst the growing coffee demand worldwide.” Noted Dr. Musafiri.

This event has had a fantastic line-up of: regional and internationally acclaimed speakers and trainers, coffee products exhibition, cupping pavilion and recreational activities.

The wonderful exhibition area has increasingly been regarded as pivotal in providing a unique opportunity to exhibitors showcasing the best coffees and affiliated services and providing ample opportunity to network with coffee luminaries from all over the world.

This will be the perfect platform for gathering valuable coffee information, building trade relations and buyer/seller interaction.

Local exhibitors who participated include Beautiful Coffee Rwanda, Coffee Kiyovu, Kigali Coffee Lab and baristas such as Kivu Noir, as well as some from the region including Ugandan ‘JUST KNOW YOUR COFFEE’ CUP (JKCC), Kenyan Karagwe Marketing Company Limited, Pamoja Occasion Organizers Limited and more.

It is expected that this conference and exhibition will be an opportunity for member countries to adopt policies that encourage transparency in coffee marketing and to establish long-term partnerships between private and public sectors, leading to the establishment of more efficient production and trade in African coffees.

Dialogue included leveraging regional integration to improve intra-regional trade within AFCA countries and strengthening farmer organizations and exporters.

African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA) is a regional coffee association with its Headquarters in Kampala, Uganda.

Membership represents countries from Burundi, Cameroon, DR. Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Membership consists of private and public sectors specialty coffee stakeholders including producers, exporters, importers, roasters, policymakers, transporters, trade representative, and others.

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