Ethiopia on Thursday unveiled an online platform that will help farmers to play a role in the determination of prices for their products.
The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX) officially inaugurated the eTRADE Platform, which has been under construction for the past two years. “for farmers, this modernisation will be life-changing”
ECX says 2,390 metric tonnes of farm produce has been traded on the platform with a trade value of ETB 120million or about $5.7 million. The launch of eTRADE would enable market players to trade electronically from anywhere.
Initial trading would take place at the ECX HQ Trading Center before it is gradually rolled out to the newly built regional trading centers in regional cities. ECX chief executive officer Ermias Eshetu said “the inauguration of this eTRADE platform sets a new course for Ethiopia and brings with it unparalleled economic and social benefits”.
“The platform inevitably breaks the physical and time barrier of the current Open-Out-Cry trading platform and provides the ECX with vital economies-of-scale to trade a number of additional new commodities,” he added.
The project followed collaboration with the Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF) and other partners. ICF chief executive officer William Asiko said the platform would revolutionarise Ethiopia’s agriculture sector.
“The modernisation of ECX will help to improve the business environment for stakeholders involved in the commodities sector and give Ethiopian agricultural products a competitive advantage,” he said. “But for farmers, this modernisation will be life-changing.”
It will enable farmers to get better pricing for their produce, thereby creating a more equitable distribution of wealth that has far reaching social implications. “ECX said the new platform had the capacity to carry nearly 5000 times more transactions than its current “Open-Out-Cry” or “Pit-Trading” platform.
A test run of the eTrade facility was done on July 20, 2015 through the introduction of local washed/unwashed byproduct coffee trades. Since its establishment in 2008, ECX has become a symbolic exchange in Africa that has empowered smallholder farmers.
Source: The Africa Report

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