East Africa Exchange holds Meeting with Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture
PRESS RELEASE
EAX Hosts Meeting with Honorable Minister of Agriculture, Federal Republic of Nigeria
KIGALI, RWANDA – Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, Honorable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Federal Republic of Nigeria, visited the East Africa Exchange (EAX) to learn more about the exchange’s capabilities and functionality.
Dr. Adesina congratulated the EAX team for the progress that has been made since the concept of EAX was first discussed two years ago and emphasized the important role the exchange plays in creating access to markets for farmers. “The work you are doing here is remarkable and needs to be shared with the global community,” Dr. Adesina said.
Dr. Adesina invited EAX to further discuss how the Ministry can partner with EAX and EAX’s sister company, AFEX Nigeria. “I will make myself available so we can move quickly on improving warehouses and using electronic warehouse receipts [in Nigeria],” Dr. Adesina said.
AFEX Nigeria is implementing an electronic warehouse receipt system in seven states in Nigeria. The company is focused on increasing grains storage capacity and revolutionizing warehouse operations for agricultural commodities. AFEX Nigeria is leading a team together with South Africa-based Collateral Management International and Done Technologies, and working in partnership with Nigeria’s Strategic Grains Reserve, the Department of Cooperatives and Cellulant which manages the Growth Enhancement Scheme in Nigeria to reach farmers and commodity traders in Nigeria.
Dr. Adesina is the 2013 recipient of the Forbes African of the Year award for his reforms to the Nigerian farming sector. He was accompanied by his Senior Investment Adviser, Ms. Ada Osakwe, and welcomed by EAX Chairman of the Board Dr. Jendayi Frazer, and EAX Chief Executive Officer Mr. Paul Kukubo.
Dr. Adesina and Dr. Frazer met in 2012 to discuss the vision for establishing a commodities exchange in Africa that would give farmers more economic power through price discovery, facilitate wider access to markets, and provide a method for agricultural financing. EAX was established in early 2013, and is powered by the NASDAQ OMX trading platform.
“Collateral financing and trading of commodities will transform the market for farmers and traders,” Mr. Kukubo said. “Through EAX, farmers are able to securely store their commodities in licensed warehouses, and use those commodities for financing. We are working with several banks to provide agricultural loans,” he said.
The EAX Trading Manager then demonstrated the NASDAQ OMX trading platform, an electronic system that can be accessed through a personal computer from anywhere in the world. Members of the EAX technical team and their partners are scheduled to travel to Nigeria in early April to meet again with Dr. Adesina and further create synergy between the organizations
