The Chargé d’Affaires a.i. at the Uganda Embassy in Addis Ababa, Mrs. Margaret Kafeero, recently received a courtesy call from Ambassador Solomon Rutega, Secretary-General of the Inter-African Coffee Organisation (IACO). The meeting focused on IACO's expanding institutional footprint, highlighted by the opening of its new Addis Ababa Office at the African Union (AU) headquarters. This new office will play a crucial role in the joint execution of a historic continental framework to transform the African coffee sector.
During the briefing, Ambassador Rutega outlined the profound structural changes underway following the 37th AU Summit in Addis Ababa. The African Union officially adopted coffee as a strategic anchor commodity, fully endorsing the Kampala Declaration originally drafted by the G25 African coffee-producing nations. This landmark policy shift aims to fundamentally alter global trade dynamics, with Africa seeking to increase its share of the $465 billion annual global coffee revenue.
Ambassador Rutega emphasized that African producing countries currently receive less than $3 billion of the aggregate revenue generated by the global coffee sector. To address this disparity, the AU and IACO are working together to implement a continental strategic framework. A central pillar of this joint strategy is a major push for industrial value addition, shifting decisively from exporting raw green coffee beans to locally processed, roasted, and packaged products.
The new Addis Ababa Office at the African Union will serve as the strategic operational backbone for the implementation of the joint AU-IACO strategy. By processing coffee domestically, its economic value increases exponentially from roughly $2 per kilogram of raw beans up to $40 per kilogram of finished product. This will directly secure the economic livelihood of over 10 million households across Africa.
In response, Mrs. Kafeero commended the IACO leadership and reaffirmed Uganda's steadfast commitment to the initiative. She highlighted the critical leadership roles of the continent's major coffee powers, including Ethiopia and Uganda. Ethiopia stands as the biological birthplace of Arabica coffee, contributing roughly 39% of the continent's output, while Uganda stands proud as Africa's premier exporter and rapidly growing producer specializing in high-yield Robusta.
The meeting concluded with both parties reaffirming their shared commitment to working collaboratively to advance the objectives of AU Agenda 2063. The goal is to ensure fair economic returns for local farmers and position Africa as a self-sustaining powerhouse in the global coffee industry. The Uganda Embassy in Addis Ababa expressed its strong support for IACO's mission and the opening of its new AU-based office.
Both parties emphasized the importance of leveraging an integrated 1.5 billion consumer market under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). By doing so, they can successfully bypass traditional global supply chains that have historically disproportionately rewarded international brokers. The collaboration between Uganda, IACO, and the AU aims to accelerate regional trade ambitions and promote economic growth.
Key points
- The African Union and IACO are working together to implement a continental strategic framework to transform the African coffee sector.
- The new Addis Ababa Office at the African Union will serve as the strategic operational backbone for the implementation of the joint AU-IACO strategy.
- The collaboration aims to ensure fair economic returns for local farmers and position Africa as a self-sustaining powerhouse in the global coffee industry.
