RATIN

EA grain council mulls more investments

Posted on April, 24, 2018 at 10:31 am


THE Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC) board us coming up with other investments to be offered commercially on a fee basis in partnership with institutional experts who have a share in the vision and aspirations of EAGC. This was revealed on Wednesday by board chairman Eugene Rwibasira at the just-ended Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC) annual members and stakeholders luncheon.

He said some of the investments in the pipeline are EAGC G-SOKO online grain trading system and EAGC trade facilitation (TRAFA) fund, both aimed at facilitating trade, primarily among members, but also other stakeholders willing to subscribe and abide to laid down rules and regulations governing the provision of their services.

Currently, the process of developing an EAGC investment company has commenced with the establishment of a new company – Interfiled Food Testing Laboratories - where EAGC is a shareholder in partnership with Soy Africa Limited.

The lab, having been registered and established in 2017, is in its infancy but with great prospects, especially for members who will use the facility to carry out world-class testing.

“The lab will also be conducting analysis and grading samples of grain commodities being traded in the region to guarantee quality and safety of products,” he said.

According to him, members need to be ambassadors of the EAGC to seek to understand what the council is all about in order to achieve and recruit new members.

He acknowledged the secretariat, regional team and country teams for excellent services they continue to offer to members, urging them to redouble their efforts to meet the ever increasing demands of the council.

Meanwhile, EAGC Executive Director Gerald Masila said the council was established following the availability of grain products and commodities and their affordability were posing a great challenge, which affected the grain sector in the region.

Since its establishment 12 years ago a lot has been achieved without the support from development partnersm, especially in pursuit of the mandate as defined in the strategic plan 2013-2017 and in facilitating high level regional Business to Business (B2B) forums.

Among countries where the forums took place include Zambia, Ethiopia and Rwanda where grain svalued at $23,619, 468 were traded.

He said the EAGC has also increased the number of warehouse certification to 67, out of which 52 have been linked to the G-Soko online trade platform.

“G-Soko is a web-based regional grain trading system developed and offered by the Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC) to facilitate
efficient, structured, inclusive and profitable grain trade in the Eastern Africa Region,” he said.

EAGC is a member-based organization of grain stakeholders throughout the Eastern Africa region founded in 2006 whose work is premised upon creating an enabling environment for the grain sector to thrive.

Currently the stakeholders represent the three main sectors of grain value chain including traders, producers/farmers and processors.

Source: IPP Media